The Ability of a Master
by Alatum Laminis
Summary: Ash, Paul, and Leon have returned from training on Mt. Silver as Aura Guardians. Good thing, too, because with the Alliance of Teams Rocket, Magma, Aqua, and Galactic under a Dark Aura Guardian, will they be able to save the world in time?
1. Introduction

**OK, People. I know that I normally do not juggle two stories at once, but this seemed a bit appealing. I'm going to make a few points in this introduction. **

**First, this will be an AbilityShipping fic. It will also include IkariShipping, ContestShipping, and GymShipping, and an OC pairing. Do not complain about the pairings, because I will not change them. **

**Second, the OCs will have Pokemon teams reflecting Team Valor and Team Majesta from my other fic, **_**A Journey of Majestic Valor**_.** Their names will be Leon and Sarah. In case you did not read my other story yet, here's the laydown: Leon has Infernape, Luxray, Staraptor, Machamp, Drapion, and Abomasnow. Sarah has Lopunny, Ninetales, Swellow, Medicham, Kricketune, and Roserade. **

**Third, Ash and Paul will have what I consider to be their best Pokemon. Ash will have Pikachu, Charizard, Sceptile, Pidgeot, Snorlax, and Lapras. I know that a few of them were released, but they'll come back for my purposes. Paul will have Torterra, Magmortar, Electivire, Aggron, Ursaring, and Honchkrow. I know Paul might have some Pokemon that might be better than these, but I have done extensive research on all of Paul's Pokemon, and again, consider them to be the best. **

**Fourth, by all means, enjoy the story! **


	2. Aura Guardians Arc: The Return

**Here's the first chapter of my new story. Please enjoy!**

A raven-haired boy about sixteen years old kneeled on the top of Mt. Silver, looking out across the Johto region. His name was well-known among even the Pokemon League Champions-Ash Ketchum. On his shoulder sat his always-faithful Pikachu. On his belt hung the Poke Balls containing his Charizard, Sceptile, Pidgeot, Snorlax, and Lapras. Pidgeot and Lapras came back after leaving their groups in the care of mating pairs, while Charizard returned upon Ash's request. Charizard still had privileges to return to his mate, Charla, at Charicific Valley, since it was not that far away.

Ash was joined by a scowling purple-haired boy his age known as Paul, Ash's major rival back in the Sinnoh region. After Ash beat him back in the Sinnoh League, he began to care about his Pokemon, and treated them with a lot more respect, although he still acted gruff around his peers. After Ash had lost to Tobias, a powerful trainer who could command Legendary Pokemon, Paul decided to join Ash when Ash announced his decision to train on Mt. Silver. The Pokemon that Paul had on hand were Torterra, Magmortar, Electivire, Aggron, Ursaring, and Honchkrow.

They were joined by a stoic raven-haired boy, also their age, named Leon. Ash and Paul met him on the boat from Sinnoh to Johto. Recognizing the two powerful trainers from the Sinnoh League, Leon immediately challenged them to a double battle. Although he eventually lost against Ash's Infernape and Paul's Electivire, he was more than able to hold his own using his Drapion and Machamp. Upon hearing their story, he offered his friendship to the two trainers, and it turned out for the best, for Leon had a versatile and powerful team of Pokemon that was always ready for battle-Infernape, Luxray, Staraptor, Machamp, Drapion, and Abomasnow.

The three of them looked out over Johto, none of them speaking. Finally, Paul broke the silence.

"Are we going to leave or what?" he growled impatiently.

"Sorry, Paul." Ash said. He then took out one of his Poke Balls and pressed the button, growing it to full size and then throwing it. "I choose you, Pidgeot!" he called.

Ash's huge bird Pokemon flew out with a proud cry. Its master promptly jumped onto its back. Below, Ash's companions were duplicating his actions.

"Honchkrow, stand by for battle!" Paul yelled. The dark bird joined Ash's Pidgeot in the air with a strong call, and Paul jumped onto its back.

"Show them what we've got, Staraptor!" Leon shouted. The formidable bird flew up with a powerful screech, and Leon wasted no time jumping onto its back.

"So, guys, what's the first destination?" Leon asked.

"The Kanto region. I have some business to settle there." Ash said. For some reason, he had a slight blush on his face as he said this. This blush did not go unnoticed by Paul or Leon, and they exchanged amused glances.

"Alright, Ash, who's the girl?" Paul asked with a smile.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ash demanded.

"Dude, you're not exactly good at covering up your emotions. You have to be more like me-completely chill." Leon said with a smirk.

"Says the one who has anger management issues." Ash muttered.

"What did you say?" Leon roared.

"My point exactly." Ash said with a short laugh.

"Enough. Kanto it is, but where exactly? Pallet Town?" Paul asked.

"Not yet. Tohjo Falls." Ash said.

"What? Why there? The only notable place there is the Kanto Battle Frontier's Battle Tower." Leon said, confused.

"Exactly." Ash replied with a grin. He promptly flew off. Paul and Leon shrugged and flew after him.

_Elsewhere…_

A lilac-haired girl about Ash's age had no idea what was in store for her. Her name was Anabel, the Frontier Brain of the Battle Tower. As she stood on the balcony of the Battle Tower, she reminisced about what had happened roughly six years ago. That time, she had met a boy who had inspired her heart. She gained romantic feelings for him, but they seemed unrequited. She had thought that they would eventually pass over after he left.

She was wrong. After he left, the feelings grew stronger, and she missed him with a sense of longing and loss. Her Espeon was the only one aware of these feelings, since they could communicate telepathically. Yes, the feelings that Anabel had for Ash Ketchum seemed to be her own, and Ash had felt nothing more than friendship for her.

"_He's probably forgotten about me by now."_ she thought sadly. Espeon was next to her, and could hear her thoughts. The Pokemon mewed in sympathy and rubbed her head against Anabel's leg. She petted its head in response.

Anabel jerked her head when a girl calling her name. "Anabel, a challenger for the Ability Symbol is here."

"I'll be right there, Sarah" She answered nonchalantly. After Sarah left, she sighed and went down the elevator to the battle stage. Sarah was a girl that Anabel met. She was sent by Scott in case Anabel got any challengers when she was out. Sarah was a good trainer, too, capable of taking Anabel on easily.

When she got there, she was surprised to see a slightly familiar face. It was a boy, no older than thirteen, but yet still familiar. "Anabel, it's me, Max. You know, the little kid who you saw traveling with Ash a few years back?"

At the mention of Ash's name, Anabel's heart skipped a beat. "Hello, Max. Where's your sister? Is May here?" she asked.

"Yeah, she's right over there with her boyfriend, Drew." Max said, pointing to the stands. Anabel looked and saw May talking with a green-haired boy. Next to them was another old friend, Brock, who was talking to an orange-haired girl she had never seen before. Upon seeing her, May and Brock waved. Seeing Anabel's confused look, Max explained, "That's Misty. She's Brock's girlfriend and one of Ash's first traveling companions."

"I see. Have you heard anything from Ash?" she asked hopefully.

"Sorry, Anabel, but no. In fact, no one has heard from him ever since he blew the Sinnoh League. We even tried his major rival, Paul, but his brother picked up and said that Paul wasn't even there. Get this: Paul's brother hadn't even heard from Paul, just like Ash." Max said.

"I see. Shall we start? You are the one who wants to get the Ability Symbol from me, right?" Anabel asked.

"Yeah, but I'm not going easy on you!" Max said confidently. Anabel smiled in return and signaled for the judge to begin the match.

"This match will be between Anabel, the Frontier Brain, and Max from Petalburg City! Each trainer will use three Pokemon, and the battle ends when all Pokemon from either side is unable to continue! Begin!" the judge yelled.

"Let's do this, Vigoroth!" Max yelled, throwing a Poke Ball. The ape thrashed around in excitement.

"Go, my friend!" Anabel called. Her Alakazam was released, its spoons ready for use.

"Vigoroth, Slash!" Max yelled. Vigoroth hooted eagerly and dashed forward with claws extended.

"_Psybeam!" _Anabel commanded telepathically. Alakazam fired a rainbow beam from its hands. Vigoroth dodged and struck, pushing Alakazam back a few feet.

"She can still use telepathy." Brock explained to a confused Misty and Drew.

"Be careful, Max!" May shouted.

Max nodded in acknowledgement and yelled out another command. "Focus Punch!" Vigoroth charged up a powerful punch.

"_Alakazam, focus. Wait until the last moment, then dodge and use Focus Blast!"_ Alakazam signaled that it had heard and waited until Vigoroth was a mere two feet away, then slid to the right, causing Vigoroth to punch the ground.

As Alakazam slid, it charged up a Focus Blast which it released upon stopping. Caught by surprise, Vigoroth had no time to dodge, and it took the super-effective move too hard.

"_Finish this! Psychic!" _Anabel thought. Alakazam's eyes turned red, and it used psychic energy to lift the struggling Vigoroth and toss it with amazing strength against the wall. Vigoroth hit the wall hard and fell with swirls for eyes.

"Vigoroth is unable to battle! Alakazam wins!" the judge announced.

"Vigoroth, return!" Max said. A beam of red energy enveloped Vigoroth back into its Poke Ball. "You were great. Take a nice, long rest."

Facing Anabel, he began to toss another Poke Ball. "Let's go, Gallade!" The soldier-like Pokemon appeared and bowed courteously-or began to, because at that moment, the wall blew inwardly. Sarah, who was watching from the stands away from the others, gasped in shock.

As they watched, two rubber hands grabbed Alakazam and Gallade. After they disappeared through the hole, familiar voices laughed annoyingly.

"It can't be!" Misty shouted.

But it was. A stupid motto was spoken out triumphantly, one that was heard many times over the past.

_Listen! Is that old and new voices I hear?_

_They speak to me loud and clear!_

_On the wind!_

_Past the stars!_

_In your ears!_

_To denounce the evils of truth and love!_

_To extend our reach to the stars above!_

_A rose by any other name's just as sweet!_

_When everything's worse, our work is complete!_

_Jessie!_

_James!_

_Meowth, that's a name!_

_Team Rocket; blast off at the speed of light!_

_Surrender now, or prepare to fight, fight, fight!_

_Meowth, that's right!_

_Wobuffet! Mime, Mime, Mime! _

A red-haired woman stepped out of a Meowth-shaped balloon, followed by a blue-haired man and a Meowth. "Team Rocket!" everyone yelled.

"That's right!" the red-haired woman, Jessie, cackled.

"And as usual we're here to make off with all your Pokemon, twerps!" the blue-haired man, James, said.

"Now fork over all of them Pokemon!" Meowth laughed. Gallade and Alakazam were in a cage next to the balloon.

"No way! We'll never give our Pokemon to losers like you! Gyarados, we need your help!" Misty cried, throwing a Poke Ball. A giant sea serpent rose, roaring. "Gyarados, Hydro Pump!" A forceful blast of water shot out of Gyarados's mouth.

"Not so fast!" Meowth said, pushing a button on a remote. A hole opened in the balloon's basket. The Hydro Pump was sucked into the hole, and was sent back out moments later with twice the power and hit Gyarados, sending it flying into a wall.

"Ha! You twerps always fall for the same trick! This hole in our balloon has been programmed to suck in attacks of any type and send it flying back with double the power!" Jessie taunted.

"Oh, no. The last time we faced this trick, Ash was the one to stop it." Brock said.

"Ash? That super-twerp with Pikachu? Where is he?" James demanded.

"We don't know! None of us have heard from him!" Max yelled.

"All right, then. I think we'll just take Gyarados." Jessie said. A rubber hand stretched out and grabbed the weakened Gyarados. It roared feebly but couldn't do anything. All the others could do was watched helplessly as the balloon began to rise…

…until three proud voices from above commanded an attack. "Aerial Ace!" they called. With a screech, a Pidgeot, Honchkrow, and Staraptor started an attack. The Pidgeot's Aerial Ace broke the hand grabbing Gyarados; the Honchkrow's Aerial Ace popped Team Rocket's balloon, sending them crashing down, and the Staraptor's Aerial Ace broke the cage containing Alakazam and Gallade. They ran back to where Anabel and Max were.

"What da heck happened?" Meowth asked in shock.

"We should be asking you, Team Rocket! You're every bit as annoying as six years ago!" a strikingly familiar voice yelled.

"What?" James asked.

"Pathetic. I can't believe you losers are actually here." Another voice somewhat familiar to Brock growled.

"Who are you?" Jessie demanded.

"Who are we? Why don't we show ourselves, guys?" a third voice unfamiliar to everyone except a certain girl named Sarah asked smugly.

The three Flying-Types lowered themselves to reveal a rider on each of their backs. They all jumped off, landed on their feet, and looked at the others behind them. One was familiar to everyone. The other two were familiar to only one person each.

"Ash?" Anabel asked in surprise and a bit of hope.

"Paul!" Brock yelled in shock.

"Leon!" Sarah gasped, earning a surprised stare from the mentioned person.

**Major cliffhanger! So, the three trainers are back and better than ever! Basically, Team Rocket is in for an epic owning. **


	3. Aura Guardians Arc: Back to Pallet Town

**The second chapter is here! Now, Ash, Paul, and Leon have all returned from training on Mt. Silver. Now, they are about to kick major Team Rocket ass!**

"Is that…Super-Twerp?" Team Rocket cried.

"Ash! It is you!" May cried. Pikachu waved at everyone, and then began sparking its cheeks.

"Everyone, get inside!" Leon said. They complied, except for Anabel and Sarah.

"What are you two doing? Get inside!" Paul commanded.

They shook their heads. "Not until you tell me why no one's heard from you in the past six years, Ash!" Anabel said.

"Can't that wait until later? We have some major ass to kick here!" Leon urged.

"Leon! Where were you? You never responded to any of my calls!" Sarah cried.

"Leon, who is she?" Ash asked.

"I'll tell you later, but right now we have to kick Team Rocket butt!" Leon said.

"Actually, I'll take care of them. You have to tell everyone else about your suddenly showing up. Leon, you're going to have to explain to this girl why you haven't responded to her calls." Paul said gruffly.

"You think you can take us on all by yourself?" Jessie said cockily.

Paul merely took out a Poke Ball. "Aggron, stand by for battle!" The huge Steel-and Rock-Type emerged with a roar.

"Aggron, Double-Edge!" Paul commanded. Aggron charged forward with white energy enveloping him, and tackled Team Rocket powerfully before they even had a chance to strike. Needless to say, they got sent flying into the air.

"Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!" they cried in anguish.

"Aggron, Honchkrow, return!" The two red beams of energy enveloped the two Pokemon. "You guys did as expected. Nice job." Paul remarked.

"Pidgeot, return!" Ash recalled his Pokemon. "Great job, buddy. You should get some rest."

"Staraptor, you return as well!" Leon said. "You did great as always."

Ash, Paul, and Leon looked at Anabel, Sarah, and the many spectators at the windows.

"We are going to have a lot of explaining to do." Ash said.

_Later…_

"So, after you blew the Sinnoh League, you and Paul went to Mt. Silver to train?" Drew asked.

"And that's where you guys met Leon, who was as good as you were?" May added.

"Yeah. Ash was the leader because he was the strongest out of all of us. I have to admit though; Paul still has trouble accepting it." Leon laughed. Paul merely humphed and turned away from the others.

"And now I'm back with two other powerful trainers to pay you guys a visit. How have you been doing anyway?" Ash asked.

"We've great. May and Drew have been going out, Brock and I have been dating, and Max has become a trainer almost as good as you were back six years ago." Misty said.

"And I was about to have a battle with Anabel until Team Rocket interrupted." Max complained.

"Sorry, Max. You'll have to wait until tomorrow." Anabel apologized. Max nodded in acceptance.

"Leon, you still haven't answered my question. I thought we were best friends. Why haven't you kept in contact with me for so long?" Sarah asked.

Leon looked uncomfortable. "Ummm, can I tell you later?"

"Wait, who are you anyway?" Paul asked.

"My name is Sarah. Leon and I used to be childhood friends." Sarah sighed.

"Sorry, Sarah. I just never thought I would see you again. You seemed to be dead after that attack on our city, and I thought that there was nothing left. I didn't think that you were even alive.

Sarah sighed. "I'm here now." she said rather reproachfully.

"What about your parents?" Brock asked.

"They were always on business trips. I never knew them all that well. Sarah's family took care of me until I was old enough to care for myself, and then I left after some evil people attacked my town. I never thought there were any survivors except me." Leon said.

"So you had a pretty rough past, eh?" Drew said.

"Drew! This isn't funny, this is serious!" May scolded, whacking him on the head.

"At least you saw your father from time to time before you left. I don't even know where my dad is. I was hoping to find him at Mt. Silver, but none of us- Paul, Leon, or I, ever did. All I know about him is that he disappeared before I was born and that he was a great Pokemon trainer." Ash said sadly.

"Sorry, Ash." Max said sympathetically.

Ash nodded. "Anyway, who wants to see the Pokemon that the three of us have raised over the years?" Ash asked.

Paul paled. "Never! I will not let these weaklings see my Pokemon!" he shouted defiantly.

"Oh, come on, Paul. You might as well, unless you're too scared." Ash taunted.

"…Fine." Paul amended reluctantly.

"Sweet, but not here. We're going to have to go back to Pallet Town. Besides, I need to pay my mom and Professor Oak a surprise visit." Ash said smugly. Paul and Leon smirked.

The entire party walked outside the Battle Tower.

"I choose you, Pidgeot and Charizard!" Ash called. The majestic bird and fire dragon emerged with a screech and a roar.

"Wow! I didn't know Ash had a Pidgeot! And Charizard looks as awesome as ever!" Max said admiringly.

"Pidgeot came back after our boat from Sinnoh to Johto passed by the Kanto region." Ash explained to a surprised Brock and Misty. "Brock, Misty and Max, take Charizard. Anabel, do you want to ride on Pidgeot with me?" Ash asked. Brock, Misty, and Max got onto Charizard's back, while Anabel, blushing profusely, accepted Ash's invitation, and let him pull her up onto the bird's back. You could also see a small blush on the trainer's face as Anabel wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.

Paul chuckled at the sight of his leader's blush. "Honchkrow, stand by for battle!" The dark bird rose with a caw, and Paul got onto its back.

"Staraptor, show them what we've got!" Leon called. The great trainer got onto his bird's back and looked at Sarah quizzically. Sarah shook her head with a smile and took out a Poke Ball.

"Swellow, I'm counting on you!" Sarah said. Swellow emerged with a cry. When it did, Staraptor's eyes widened and its beak dropped open. Swellow noticed Staraptor and narrowed its eyes.

"They don't seem too happy to see each other." Leon remarked.

"I'll tell you later." Sarah answered, getting on Swellow's back.

"Flygon, take the stage!" Drew called. The green dragon rose into the air with a cry, and the two coordinators got onto its back.

"Pidgeot, Charizard, you should know how to get to Pallet Town by now!" Ash shouted, and his Pokemon nodded. "Good, then let's go! The rest of you, follow me!"

It was amazing to Ash's old friends how Paul and Leon obeyed his orders without question, especially considering how Paul never really liked Ash before they left. Anabel also admired how proudly Ash gave his orders.

The six Flying-Types took to the air immediately, flying off in the direction of Pallet Town. During the short flight, Sarah urged Swellow towards Leon and his Staraptor. Reluctantly, her Pokemon obeyed, but not before shooting a vicious glare towards Staraptor, who sighed in response.

"So, Leon…ummm…can you tell me the reason of your sudden leaving?" Sarah asked.

Leon looked around. Luckily, he was a bit farther away from the rest of the group, so it would be more difficult to hear them talk. "Alright. I left because I wanted to see more of the Pokemon world and to get stronger. As experienced as my Pokemon were in battle, they were not enough to save our town or find you. I wanted to come back one day to find you. You, your family, and your Pokemon were the only things I regretted leaving behind. Your family I buried, but I couldn't find you or your Pokemon. I assumed that you had died."

Sarah shook her head. "I didn't. My Pokemon and I were training outside of town when we saw the town being attacked. I tried to get there as fast as I could, but all my Pokemon were worn out, and I had to run alone. By the time I got there, the attack was over. I already knew that you buried my family because I saw their graves, but I couldn't find you. All this time, I've been training, and got good enough to be made a substitute Frontier Brain for Anabel. Through that time, I've been clinging on to the hope that you survived. You don't know how happy I am to see you."

Leon smiled. "Well, that makes two of us." he said. The two bird Pokemon got closer so that their wings touched. They were having their own conversation, and Swellow now felt at ease with Staraptor. Leon and Sarah took each other's hands, just like they had done as children, and both remembered childhood feelings for each other long ago, only now they were intensified by their years of separation.

As the two held hands, Ash looked back at them. By now, they were nearing Pallet town, and Ash planned a conversation with another girl, who was currently in deep shyness from being so near her crush. Her reverie was broken by Ash saying, "Guys, we're here! Pallet Town!"

Ash spotted his house from above, and urged Pidgeot to land. With a screech, the great bird landed, and the others followed suit. Ash got off, and caught Anabel as she jumped off, lowering her to the ground gently. He couldn't help noticing how soft her clothes were, how lovely her eyes were, etc. All the other members of the party landed with grunts, and the commotion caused a certain Pokemon to open the door and see what was going on.

Ash brightened at the sight of the Pokemon. "Mimey! Is mom home?" he asked the Mr. Mime. Mimey was confused until he saw the Pikachu perched on Ash's shoulder.

"Mime! Mime, Mime, Mime!" Mimey called.

"Who is it, Mimey?" a lady's voice asked, one that Ash hadn't heard in years. Then the lady herself stepped into view. Delia Ketchum was still the same as ever, except for the fact that some of her hair was beginning to gray. However, Ash was still able to recognize her.

"A-ash?" Delia stammered.

"Hey, mom. I'm home." Ash greeted.

"Ash!" Delia cried and pulled him into his arms. Ash hugged back. They pulled away from each other.

"Who are all your friends?" Delia asked.

"OK, you already know Misty, Brock, May, and Max. The green-haired guy next to May is her boyfriend, Drew. The purple-haired guy is named Paul. The tall stoic guy with black hair is Leon. The blond-haired girl is Leon's old friend, Sarah. Finally, the lilac-haired girl is Anabel, the Battle Tower brain." Ash introduced his friends.

"Come in, everyone! I'll make a very special lunch!" Delia went back into the house into the kitchen, while Ash and the others headed to Professor Oak's lab to pass the time.

Upon knocking on the door, Ash and his party encountered a familiar face. "Gary, is that you?" Ash asked.

"Heya, Ashy-boy!" Gary said with a grin. "Who're these guys?" he asked, pointing to Ash's party. Ash quickly made the same introductions for Gary that he did with his mom.

"Cool. Ash's Pokemon are all out back in the field. We haven't trained them as well as you did, but I've always trained them by pitting them against some of my own Pokemon. They should be more than capable enough to handle weaklings like Team Rocket." Gary said confidently.

"Thanks for taking care of my reserves, Gary." Ash said.

"No problem, old friend." Gary answered, clapping Ash on the back.

They walked out to the field behind Professor Oak's house. "Hey, everyone! It's Ash! Come on out!" Ash called. As soon as he said this, an army of Pokemon began to run towards him. Bulbasaur, Kingler, Muk, Tauros, Butterfree, Primeape, Squirtle, Heracross, Bayleef, Quilava, Totodile, Noctowl, Donphan, Swellow, Corphish, Torkoal, Glalie, Staraptor, Torterra, Infernape, Buizel, and Gible were all there.

"Whoa. Who knew that Ash had so many Pokemon?" Leon asked.

"A lot of them actually look decent." Paul remarked.

"Guys, it's time to meet some old friends!" Ash called. "Come on out, everyone!" Ash yelled, throwing his five Poke Balls. Charizard, Sceptile, Snorlax, Lapras, and Pidgeot came out with proud cries.

"Lapras came back too?" Brock asked in awe. Lapras looked at him and Misty and cried a greeting, to which they responded. Ash's team and reserves then began mingling, sharing news.

"I hate to say this, but now it's my turn!" Paul said. He took out six Poke balls. "Torterra, Magmortar, Electivire, Honchkrow, Aggron, Ursaring, show them your power!" Paul's powerful team emerged with roars. Ash's team greeted them, but some of his reserves were a little wary. That wariness was lost when Paul's team joined into the conversation.

"I think that it's my turn." Leon said smugly. He took out his six Poke Balls. "Infernape, Luxray, Staraptor, Machamp, Drapion, Abomasnow, come out and meet Ash's reserves!" Leon's team emerged with proud cries and joined in the now very large group of conversing Pokemon.

"What are you guys waiting for? Release all your Pokemon, too! They could use a little relaxation!" Ash laughed.

"Gyarados, Starmie, Politoed, Corsola, Goldeen, let's go!" Misty yelled. The five water-types appeared in the lake next to Lapras.

"Gallade, Vigoroth, Sceptile, Magnezone, Rapidash, go!" Max cried. They all began running around the large field.

"Beautifly, Blaziken, Munchlax, Wartortle, Glaceon, Venusaur, go!" May said. They joined in on the conversation, although Blaziken and Ash's Sceptile seemed to be sneaking annoyed glances at each other. The old rivalry was still there.

"Flygon, Absol, Roserade, Masquarain, Butterfree, take the stage!" Drew commanded. Drew's team began joining Max's team on running around the field, or in some cases, taking a huge flight.

"Espeon, Metagross, Alakazam, Snorlax, go!" Anabel shouted. The team merely stayed around the outskirts until Pikachu quickly invited them into the conversation, which they accepted calmly, Espeon with some shyness.

"Steelix, Forretress, Crobat, Ludicolo, Croagunk, Chansey!" Brock yelled. Brock's team decided to just watch over the Pokemon.

"Lopunny, Ninetales, Swellow, Medicham, Kricketune, Roserade, time to reunite!" Sarah cried.

"Um, I don't think that's such a…" Leon started, but it was too late. Sarah's team was released and instantly recognized Leon's team. Leon's team noticed them and froze, staring back at them. Then, they started slowly backing away from the rest of the Pokemon.

"What did I try to tell you?" Leon asked.

"Should we try to let them settle it on their own?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah. If it gets bad, we intervene. In the meantime, I'll be going to Ash's house for lunch to pass the time. Who wants to join me?" Leon asked. Everyone heard and raised their hands, leaving the Pokemon to settle their own issues.

**This chapter definitely could have been better. Next chapter will be in the Pokemon's point of view. Note: When they talk, their words will be italicized. **

**Please review, and happy holidays!**

**...**

**Oh, yeah, and _A Journey of Majestic Valor_ will be updated soon! I've begun to work on the chapter!  
**


	4. Aura Guardians Arc: Pokemon Perspective

**Last time we left off, Ash and the gang left their Pokemon at Professor Oak's lab to their own devices. However, Leon's team and Sarah's team have some issues to settle. Due to these issues, Leon's team might be in for a big beating or a big moment of forgiveness. Let's find out. Again, the Pokemon talk will be italicized. **

The tension was thick in the air as the teams of Leon and Sarah faced each other down. As the other Pokemon realized this, they steadily grew silent as they watched the two teams stare at each other with Leon's team looking rather scared and Sarah's looking angry. Finally, Leon's Infernape finally broke the silence.

"_Uh, guys? Can you help us out here?_" he asked. Ash's Pikachu groaned.

"_You are fearless in battle, and yet you are afraid of a few girls_?_ That's kind of sad._" He said.

"_Come on, we've trained side by side, can't you at least do something_?" Leon's Machamp said.

"_Okay._" Pikachu said. Then he turned to all the other Pokemon behind him. "_OK, everyone, nothing to see here, just go on your own business_." All of the Pokemon immediately obeyed and began walking off.

"_Wait!_" Leon's Luxray yelled. Everyone stopped and looked at him. Luxray began sniffing the air. "_You guys smell that_?" Everyone tried to smell what Luxray was detecting. Only a handful of Pokemon, namely Ash's Pikachu, Anabel's Espeon, May's Glaceon, Drew's Absol, and Sarah's Ninetales, could smell what Luxray was detecting.

"_It smells familiar, but I can't really place it_." Sarah's Ninetales said.

"_Wait, it's actually there? Luxray isn't lying so that he and his team can get away from us?_" Sarah's Lopunny said.

"_Fortunately for him, no_." Ninetales said with a touch of anger in her voice.

"_What does it smell like?_" Misty's Gyarados growled.

"_Hmm…_" Luxray murmured, looking around. Then he focused on a spot heavily covered by bushes and tree. "_Behind those bushes_."

"_Alright, then. Master Leon's team, Three-Way Decision attack_." Infernape said. Leon's team nodded.

"_What about us_?" Sarah's Roserade asked.

"_It would be best if you stayed back. None of us want to see any of you hurt. That goes for all other Pokemon besides Leon's team. Understand?_" Leon's Drapion said.

Everyone immediately stepped back, even Sarah's team after some hesitation. As they walked, Sarah's Medicham was thinking out loud. "_It seems like they still care about us, even after so long._"

"_You're right, Medicham. I wonder why, even after they forgot about us and left_." Sarah's Kricketune said.

"_They didn't._" a voice next to them said. Looking, they saw that it was Ash's Sceptile.

"_What do you mean by that? And who are you, anyway?_" Sarah's Swellow asked.

"_I'm Ash's Sceptile_. _And I personally remember that whenever us Pokemon, meaning Ash's, Paul's and Leon's teams, ever had a conversation, you seemed to come up sooner or later. They talked about how strong you girls were, how cute, how smart. It was a bit annoying, but it was easy to see that they cared about you deeply. They thought you that you were dead, so I never thought that I would meet you. Now it is an amazing experience to finally meet you._"

"_He's right._" It was Paul's Magmortar. "_It is quite amazing to meet you. I'm Paul's Magmortar, and I, just like that lizard, can personally remember many conversations where you came up._"

"_Really?_" Lopunny asked. Both Sceptile and Magmortar nodded.

"_But I think that you should clear the air with them. They seem a little shy, which is unusual. I wonder why?_" Sceptile said.

"_Well, that's…_" Kricketune laughed nervously. Then she regained her composure. "_Anyway, what is the 'Three-Way Decision?_" she asked.

Ash's Charizard, who was listening in, grinned. "_You'll find out._" He seemed to be crouching.

Meanwhile, Infernape and Drapion had snuck up on both sides of the bushes, while Staraptor had flown up. Luxray lashed his tail onto the ground with a loud crack, and the three Pokemon immediately attacked the bushes. There was some screaming, and then the three Pokemon dragged out an annoyingly familiar trio.

"_It's them!_" Anabel's Espeon exclaimed.

"_Team Rocket? How do they manage to recover from a flight like the one they just took, like, a half hour ago? _" Drew's Flygon gasped.

"_I will never know! Who cares, let's swarm them!" _Machamp laughed.

"Oh, no. They look mad." Jessie whispered fearfully.

"They're saying that they're going to swarm us!" Meowth hissed.

"It has been an honor serving with you." James said dramatically.

"We're not going to fail! Not with all these beautiful Pokemon to give to the boss!" Then she took out a Poke Ball. "Seviper, Poison Tail!" The large snake appeared and it prepared to strike with a glowing purple tail.

"_Prepare for a world of pain!_" he hissed. Drapion grinned and prepared his own poison attack when Kricketune dashed forward.

"_No! Wait!" _Drapion yelled.

Kricketune ignored him and ducked under Seviper's Poison Tail, taking him by surprise. "_Slash!_" she commanded. She scored a direct hit, and to everyone's surprise, knocked him right back to Team Rocket, already fainted.

"_Holy…_" Drapion gasped.

"How did that Kricketune do that to Seviper with one Slash?" James asked. Then he took out a Poke Ball, and Jessie took out another one. Meowth also stepped forward.

"Yanmega, take then down!" Jessie yelled. The large insect appeared with a roar.

"Carnivine, let's go!" The Venus Flytrap-like Pokemon appeared and, as usual, attacked James.

"Yanmega, SonicBoom!" Yanmega flapped its wings and struck with fast sound waves. Leon's Staraptor prepared Aerial Ace, but Swellow flew in, to his surprise.

"_Aerial Ace"_ Swellow cried. She whirled around, dodged the SonicBoom and struck Yanmega with a full-on ram. "_Wing Attack!_" Her wings glowed and she slashed Yanmega with them, Needless to say, Yanmega was pushed back to Jessie.

"Carnivine, Vine Whip!" James commanded.

With a grin, Carnivine launched his vines. "_This won't take long!_" he laughed.

Machamp prepared to grab the vines, but Medicham went in front of him.

"_You have got to be kidding me."_ Machamp groaned. Medicham grabbed the vines and pulled Carnivine in.

"_Force Palm!_" her hand glowed and she smacked Carnivine right in the face. With all the power behind that move, Carnivine was instantly knocked out.

"_How did you get that strong?_" Machamp demanded. Medicham glared at him viciously, and he glared back.

Meowth laughed. "Heh! Fury Swipes!" He started charging with multiple fast scratches.

"_Annoying."_ Infernape growled. He started to charge in when Lopunny ran right past him and jumped.

"_Jump Kick!_" she came down, ignored the Fury Swipes, and kicked hard on Meowth's stomach. The super-effective move made Meowth take a lot of damage, and like his fellow Pokemon comrades, he was pushed back like it was nothing.

"_How did they get so strong?"_ Luxray wondered. The same thought was running through the minds of all of Leon's team. However, Team Rocket still wasn't gone.

"How dare them! Get all of them, no matter what it takes!" Jessie commanded. They all took out nets and charged.

"_This is getting ridiculous!"_ Pikachu yelled. He dashed forward and immediately fired a Thunderbolt at Team Rocket. They screamed and were knocked flying, as usual.

"_How could Team Rocket be so stupid? I'll never understand why they insist on attacking us._" May's Blaziken sighed.

Lopunny suddenly felt stinging pain, and she gasped in surprise. It seemed that the Fury Swipes that she had taken took a bit more toll than she thought. She already had some small cuts. Infernape, noticing this, rushed over to her. _"Are you all right?" _he asked in concern.

"_Stay away from me._" Lopunny said. Infernape didn't listen and kneeled beside her, looking at her with a worried expression on his face.

"_I thought I told you to stay away. I'm fine."_ Lopunny said curtly.

Infernape suddenly reached out and took one of her hands. She tried to jerk away from him, but his grip was firm. _"Do you really expect me to believe that you're fine? I've known you since our masters were stumbling toddlers taking their first steps. I can read you like a book. It's not physical pain, but emotional pain, that you're suffering from._"

"_Get away from her, Infernape!"_ Ninetales shouted. She and the rest of Sarah's team rushed forward, but Leon's team blocked them.

"_We will fight you if you insist!"_ Kricketune yelled. None of them spoke an answer, only looked at them with some wistfulness.

"_Please. We don't want to fight you."_ Leon's Abomasnow said. This caused Sarah's team to lose their guard a bit.

"_You…don't?"_ Sarah's Roserade asked.

"_Don't listen to them! Attack if you must!"_ Sarah's Lopunny said.

"_LOPUNNY! PLEASE!"_ Infernape begged her. Then he turned to everyone else. _"Anyone who is not a part of Leon's or Sarah's team, leave immediately. I will react violently if you don't."_ Everyone took their cue and left. Even Pikachu and Paul's Torterra, who knew Leon's Infernape for so long, did not want to test his anger.

"_Infernape…do you want to know why we're acting like this?"_ Lopunny asked. Not waiting for an answer, she continued. _"It's because you broke two things when you left. You broke our hearts, and by breaking them, you broke the promise you made to never hurt us. We knew by instinct that you weren't dead. And yet, you and your master did not even try to come and find us when you left. Why, Infernape? Why?"_ Lopunny asked with a depressed look. That look was mirrored on the faces of the rest of Sarah's team.

"_We never wanted to hurt you. We just didn't think that you were alive. I promise, if we had known that you were alive, we would have come back for you in a heartbeat." _Drapion murmured.

"_What makes us think that we would believe you? We hate you! We hate you and your master!"_ Medicham screamed.

"_This is enough!" _Infernape roared. Then he calmed down a bit, but tears were beginning to leak out of his face and the other members of Leon's team's faces as he spoke. _"Please. Don't you remember? The times that you shared with each other? We were together for just as long as we were apart. Lopunny, we have shared events and memories too beautiful to forget. Don't you remember the first time we met? You were cute, and now you're more beautiful than I have ever seen you!" _Lopunny turned to him, her eyes wide and teary. After all this time, he still found her beautiful? She shook her head. It was impossible, and yet, his words, had triggered a long-forgotten memory in her head…

**OK, next chapter will be full of flashbacks. They will be written in bold. But that will be later, so, for now, Happy New Year to all and please review! **


	5. Aura Guardians Arc: Forgiveness

**This chapter is mostly about flashbacks, and as I said, they are written in bold. Also, the Pokemon talk is in italics like last time. Please enjoy!**

**Flashback to about ten years ago…**

"**Hey! Get away from her!"** **a six-year old raven-haired boy yelled. He was talking to a group of other boys taunting a small blond girl about his age crouched next to a fainted Buneary. Next to him, his Chimchar was beginning to heat up in anger.**

"**This isn't any of your business! Now get out of here!" the other boys yelled back. They all had Rattata that were snarling. **

"**Can't you stop picking on weaker opponents? That Buneary can't battle all of you at the same time, so why can't you just leave it and that girl alone?" the sole boy yelled bravely. The Rattata began chattering their teeth in anticipation, albeit rather weakly because of a few fresh bruises. **

"**Rattata, go!" the bullies yelled. The Rattata surged forward. **

"**Chimchar, use Ember on all of them!" Chimchar screeched and fired small pellets of fire on all the Rattata. Some of them got burned. "Now use your speed, and Scratch them all!" Chimchar screamed and dashed around, scratching each Rattata's face. All in all, Chimchar made all of them faint. **

"**We'll get you for this!' the bullies yelled. They picked the Rattata up and ran off crying. **

**The boy then walked up to the girl. "Are you okay?" he asked innocently.**

"**Buneary, she's hurt." The girl cried. **

"**Don't worry, we'll take Buneary to the Pokemon center and heal it! By the way, I'm Leon." The boy said with a grin. **

**The girl smiled back. "I'm Sarah." She got up, picked up her Buneary, and took Leon's hand. 'C'mon, let's go!" They ran to the Pokemon Center, where Nurse Joy fixed up Buneary. Chimchar, being ever so curious, was the first one to try to get Buneary to get up after it came out from the Emergency Room. At his touch, Buneary's eyes opened.**

"_**Where am I?"**_** she asked Chimchar.**

"_**You're in the Pokemon center! My friend Leon over there helped your master! You were fainted. What happened?"**_** Chimchar asked.**

"_**I was attacked. That group of Rattata swarmed me. I tried to weaken them, but there were too many to stop. They completely caught me off guard."**_** Buneary explained.**

"_**Those meanies! Now I'm even happier that I took them down!"**_** Chimchar said. **

"_**You did? Thanks!"**_** Buneary said, her eyes shining.**

"_**Hey, I can't take all the credit! You weakened them, so I could take care of the rest! You're obviously strong! Not only did you stand up to five Rattata, but you could probably beat them if you weren't taken by surprise! I really think that's impressive! You're probably as strong as me! "**_** Chimchar replied cheerfully.**

"_**You really think so?" **_**Buneary asked.**

**Chimchar put a hand on her shoulder. "**_**I know so."**_

"**Wow, looks like the two of our Pokemon are already making friends!" Leon said happily. **__

"**I think that we should follow their way. Let's be friends forever, Leon!" Sarah declared.**

"**Yeah!" Leon agreed.**

**End Flashback…**

"_Lopunny, that moment that we shared was one of my favorites! From then on, we worked together to help each other! The day we met was one of the best days of my life!" _Infernape yelled.

"_Infernape…that day…_" Lopunny whispered. She had treasured that day, too. It was the day Leon and Sarah had pledged lifelong friendship, and she and Infernape did, too, as Buneary and Chimchar. While she was resisting this thought, she eventually realized that she still cared about Infernape, maybe even love him…

Suddenly, another voice snapped her out of her reverie. "_Don't listen to him, Lopunny! Listen to us!"_ Ninetales yelled.

"_Why don't YOU listen to us?"_ It was Luxray, and the firm but desperate tone in his voice made Ninetales turn her head and look at him. _"Ninetales…Infernape and Lopunny aren't the only ones who have shared special moments. Remember all those times we snuck out to watch the stars after Leon and Sarah had captured us?" _

**Flashback to about five years ago…**

**Leon and Sarah were ten years old and had just started their Pokemon journey around Sinnoh. Leon and Sarah had merely started out with Chimchar and Buneary, but then Leon had captured a Shinx and Sarah had settled for a Vulpix. Then they decided to rest the night outside with their sleeping bags. **

**Shinx couldn't really sleep. He was impatient for all the adventures that being with this human could bring. There was something strange to him, though. It was like there was something missing. After looking around, his suspicions were confirmed. He knew that his master, Leon and his master's friend, Sarah had four Pokemon total. One of them was missing. Feeling a bit nervous for what might have happened, he jumped over Chimchar and Buneary, who were sleeping on the picnic blanket beside him, and then over Leon and Sarah, who were sleeping next to each other in different sleeping bags. **

**Using his tracking skills, he was quickly able to pick up a scent. It led up to a hill where Shinx found a red fox-like Pokemon looking up at the stars. He recognized her as Vulpix. Vulpix then picked up his scent and spun around, her body prepared for battle. **

"_**Calm down, it's only me."**_** Shinx said.**

**Vulpix relaxed and turned back. **_**"Sorry. You startled me, that's all."**_

"_**You're Vulpix, right?" **_**Shinx asked, and**__**Vulpix nodded.**_** "What are you doing all the way out here? You should be asleep."**_

"_**I just wanted to look up at the stars. I think they're… lovely." **_**Vulpix said. **

**This left Shinx rather speechless. **_**"Umm…that's one way to describe them." **_**He said awkwardly. **

**Vulpix looked at him. **_**"Shinx, is it?"**_** Shinx nodded. **_**"Well, Shinx, the stars have always been one of the most important things in my life. When I hatched out of my egg one night, the first thing I saw was my mother. Beyond her, though, my infant eyes saw the stars for the first time. They were beautiful to me, and I'll never forget that moment."**_

**Shinx was speechless. **_**"Well? Do you have an answer to what I've just told you?"**_** Vulpix asked, turning her head to glare at him. **

"_**You caught me off guard. I really didn't think you would say something like that." **_**Shinx replied.**

"_**No one does." **_**Vulpix said rather bitterly. Shinx took the last few steps so that he could stand next to her.**

"_**Is there something wrong?"**_** he asked.**

"_**I've never really given it a thought until now, but I've just realized that no one really has a love for the stars like mine. It's like a curse and a blessing. Sometimes the best things are the ones that no one has. You know what I mean, right?" **_**Vulpix asked.**

"_**Why don't you take a look at my tail?"**_** Shinx asked. Vulpix looked, and to her surprise, she saw that Shinx's tail ended in a yellow lightning bolt instead of the normal four-pointed star. **

"_**What…what is that?"**_** she whispered. **

"_**Weird, isn't it? My parents abandoned me the instant they saw it. They said that it was a myth in my family. If a Shinx is born with a tail with a shape differing from the normal, that Shinx will be stronger than the average. However, there's a downside-the Shinx's heart will also be more likely to fall into darkness. Almost all my ancestors that came before me have fallen into this evil. Instead of seeing what I could become, my parents abandoned me in the wild, completely scared of me!" **_**Shinx said, digging his claws into the ground. **__

"_**Shinx…I don't think that you're evil. You came to find me when you noticed I had disappeared just a few minutes ago, right? You could have just let me come back by myself, but instead, you came to find me. It takes a kind heart to do that."**_** Vulpix attempted to comfort him. **

"_**I know I'm not evil, but I have found out that the darkness in my ancestors' hearts grew as they grew. They were good in the beginning, but they ended up going insane, attacking Pokemon and humans alike, even their own friends. With their power, it took the ancestors that were on the side of good to fight them. What if I hurt Leon and Sarah, and Chimchar, Buneary, any Pokemon that Leon and Sarah put on their teams and you as well? I don't want to ever hurt any of you." Shinx murmured. **_

**Vulpix looked at him for a long moment, and then did something unusual. She put her cheek up against his, and nuzzled him. Shinx was too surprised to react. **____

"_**Shinx…you're not evil. You'll never be evil, because you've got Leon, Sarah, Chimchar, Buneary, and me to stop you. As long as we're still alive, you won't turn bad. You understand?" **_**Vulpix asked. Shinx nodded. **_**"Good. Now, I think I'll follow you back to bed. We're going to have a long journey with Sarah and Leon."**_

"_**Agreed." **_**Shinx said. He began following Vulpix, but then stopped. **_**"Oh, and Vulpix?"**_

"_**Hmm?"**_

"_**Thanks."**_

**End Flashback…**

Luxray held out his lightning-bolt-shaped tail. _"Ever since that night, I have never once fallen into evil! It was because of you! I was always the stronger when it came to battle, but it was always because of you! You gave me hope, and you were the one who helped me up when I was down! You think I would be so insensitive as to not care about you after all you've done for me?" _Luxray yelled.

Ninetales was tearing up by now. She was remembering that night as well as later nights. Every time Luxray and Ninetales had snuck out, they had grown a bit closer. Just like Lopunny, Ninetales realized that she still cared for Luxray. No…she loved him.

"_You, too? Come on!" Medicham yelled._

"_You and Lopunny have fallen for their tricks! But we'll never be swayed!" Kricketune yelled. Roserade stayed silent, but she was nodding along._

"_This is enough!" _Swellow screamed. She turned onto her friends. _"Why can't you all see that they still care about us? They have never forgotten us, even after these last four years! Didn't Sceptile and Magmortar say just that?" _

"_Swellow, we don't even know them!" Roserade argued. _

"_No, but we know Leon's team! We have known them for six years now at least! And have they ever intentionally hurt us outside of battle?" _Swellow had her wings spread out wide now.

"_Swellow, calm down!"_ Staraptor said. She looked at him quizzically, and the anger was still in her eyes.

"_I know exactly how you feel. Ever since that day, I've always seemed to know." _He murmured.

"_What day?"_ Medicham demanded. The rest of Leon and Sarah's team looked at Staraptor and Swellow, who had flown up to each other.

"_Do you guys remember when Leon and Sarah went back home, and took us to this really large field so that we could play around in it?" _Staraptor asked. This memory wasn't just in Staraptor's and Swellow's heads-it was in everyone's.

**Flashback to about four years ago…**

"**What do you think, Leon? Should we let them into our secret?" 11-year old Sarah asked. **

"**They need a break, especially since they did so well in the Sinnoh League." Leon replied. This was true. Leon's team and its sheer power was normally all that it took to defeat his opponents. Sarah's opponents pretty much underestimated her and her Pokemon, and of course, all of them went down. That changed when Leon and Sarah faced each other in the semifinals. Both of them were reluctant to win, but in the end, Leon won narrowly. Unfortunately, the trainer that Leon faced in the finals was a little too tough for him, and he lost, to his great disappointment. However, for trainers who just started, being the in the Final Four was enough of a feat, and Leon and Sarah both went home with smiles.**

"**You have a point. Alright, then, let's go." Sarah said. They trekked out of Sarah's house walked out of town. Then, Leon parted some ferns to reveal a hidden tunnel. Sarah followed him through it. **

**The tunnel led out to a humongous field, with some trees and rocks. It was the type the field that one thinks of when they imagine themselves running around in a field.**

"**Infernape, Luxray, Staraptor, Machamp, Drapion, Abomasnow, come out and see this!" Leon yelled. **

"**Lopunny, Ninetales, Swellow, Medicham, Kricketune, Roserade, join us!" Sarah added. The twelve Pokemon emerged, ten of them looking around the field in wonder, two of them looking around in happiness. **

"**Everyone, this is a field that no one knows about besides Sarah and me. We found it when we were little kids. Infernape, Lopunny, both of you should remember this field." Leon explained. **

"**Today, we'll let you explore this place, just don't go too far away. Also, if there are any wild Pokemon, don't bother them unless they bother you." Sarah said.**

**All the Pokemon nodded and ran off to do their own things. While all the other Pokemon were limited to the ground, the sky was the limit for both Staraptor and Swellow. They used that limit to the max. Both of them loved to fly, and the field gave them more than enough space to do so. **

"_**Bet you can't catch me, Swellow!"**_** Staraptor laughed. Swellow grinned and flew towards him. Staraptor tried to get away, but Swellow used her superior speed to get the better of him. **

"_**What were you saying about me not being able to catch you?"**_** she laughed. **

"_**Okay, I underestimated you. I should have remembered about your speed, especially since I battled against you."**_** Staraptor said with a chuckle. By now they were flying in one place. This caught the attention of some of the Pokemon on the ground, who watched from below in amusement. Leon and Sarah were too busy talking to notice. **

"_**You still won that battle." **_**Swellow said. **

"_**Hey, I'm not a pushover when it comes to speed either. I'm pretty fast. Also, I have awesome attack power." **_**Staraptor replied with a tone of pride. **

"_**So do I. The battle could have gone both ways. You just got the better of me."**_** Swellow argued.**

"_**It's not like it's easy doing that. Even after several practice battles with you, I still found you challenging in our battle." **_**Staraptor recalled. They flew down to a branch high above the ground. There, they perched next to each other, silently enjoying each other's company. **

"_**Staraptor…where do you our masters want to go next?" **_**Swellow asked, looking up at him.**

"_**I would guess that it would the Kanto region. I heard them talking about it one night." **_**Staraptor replied.**

"_**Hmm…we'll definitely see some powerful trainers there. I'm itching for a battle."**_** Swellow said with a smile. **__

"_**That makes two of us."**_** Staraptor murmured. They had unconsciously moved closer to the other. By now, they were close enough that if they turned their heads, they could easily press their beaks to the other's face. Swellow was the one to make the first move, leaning her head into Staraptor's chest. Staraptor gave no reaction, although his brain was now in a jumble. However, he slowly relaxed as he wrapped his wings around Swellow, pulling her closer. They stayed like this for the rest of the day, just contemplating and enjoying the other's company.**

**End flashback…**

"_You guys did that?"_ Lopunny asked with her eyes wide.

"_That's right. I've already forgiven Staraptor. He told me the same thing as the others have been telling you. They truly did not think that we survived. He also told me that even though they thought that we were dead, they could never find the will to get Leon to find another girl with Pokemon suitable to mate with them. They couldn't ever let us go."_ Swellow said.

"_Wait, mate with them? What do you mean by that?" _Medicham asked.

"_She means…that ever since we met you, we have loved you." _Machamp broke in.

"_What?" _both Lopunny and Ninetales whispered from their positions beside Infernape and Luxray respectively. They then looked at the male Pokemon next to them, and they nodded.

"_We could never, ever find the moment to confess."_ Infernape said. _"When we thought you were dead, you have no idea how devastated we were. Now…we are together again…and…what Machamp said was true. Lopunny…I do indeed love you." _

"_It's the same with me. Ninetales…ever since I met you, you were never my best friend."_ Ninetales looked down sadly, until Luxray pulled her face back up. _"You were always far more. I love you." _Ninetales gasped.

"_Enough with the mushiness!" _Medicham yelled. She had her fists clenched. _"Brick Break!"_ Machamp's eyes widened as Medicham struck him. She then attacked him again and again with Brick Break, Force Palm and Drain Punch, to everyone's horror. Machamp, however, made no move to defend himself. He calmly took every blow, but seemed unfazed, despite the many wounds he inevitably accumulated.

Eventually, Medicham was able to get Machamp very weak, although he didn't show it. _"This is the end!" _Medicham cried. She raised her hand for a final blow-until she saw what she had done. Machamp was indeed wounded, but he did not show it. If anything, his expression gave him the appearance of someone enduring pain for another. Medicham was shocked. How could he still be fighting like this, even after all the pain she had dealt to him? Then another memory resurfaced, this one being very precious to Medicham. This memory happened a long, long time ago, when Machamp and Medicham were just Machop and Meditite living in Mt. Coronet before they got captured by Leon and Sarah.

**Flashback to about ten years ago…**

**Meditite, as customary for her species, was notoriously independent. She learned from her parents how to find food even in Mt. Coronet, but after that, she was seen off, promising to come back for a visit every now and then. Ever since then, she had taken to meditating on Mt. Coronet every day.**

**Meditite also liked to break rocks. Every day, aside from meditating, she would also go into a cave. This cave had a high ceiling and walls, as well as a great number of rocks to break. She was always alone, and was sure no one else knew about the cave. **

**However, she was surprised to see another Pokemon in the cave. This one was breaking rocks just as quickly as Meditite could. Unlike her, however, this Pokemon was using only his fists, whereas Meditite was more than capable of breaking rocks using all four limbs. **

**Meditite got angry. How dare this Pokemon barge in on her cave and break her rocks? **

"_**Hey! Those aren't your rocks to break!"**_** she yelled. The Pokemon turned around, and Meditite could see its face clearly now. It was about her age, and definitely male. **

"_**What are you talking about? This is a cave where everyone is allowed to go. I just found this cave and wanted to train here. What's wrong with that?"**_** he asked.**

"_**First of all, I found this cave first! You have no right to be here! I decide who does and doesn't have a right!" **_**Meditite yelled. **

"_**This isn't your cave! It belongs to everyone!"**_** the male Pokemon argued.**

"_**It's not like it belongs to you!" **_**Meditite yelled.**

"_**THIS CAVE BELONGS TO NEITHER OF YOU!"**_** a voice roared.**

**The two smaller Pokemon looked in shock as a Steelix wormed its way right into the cave. **_**"THIS CAVE IS MY PROPERTY! GET OUT!" **_**Steelix roared.**

"_**Oh, yeah? I'll fight you for it! Bide!" **_**Meditite yelled. She began storing energy, expecting Steelix to attack. However, he didn't, only stayed in the same spot, not moving. He waited until Meditite couldn't store any more energy. It worked-Bide had no effect if the user didn't take any damage. **

**Steelix laughed. **_**"You think I don't know what that attack does? I've fought many Pokemon who've used that attack, and I know its weakness! Now it's my turn! Slam!" **_**Steelix unleashed a powerful tackle, intent on hitting the now vulnerable Meditite. **

**Meditite braced for impact when the other Pokemon grabbed her from behind and jumped. Unfortunately, he was unable to jump high enough, and Steelix was still able to graze him with Slam, causing him to wince. He landed and set Meditite on the ground. She looked back at him in confusion, and he shrugged. **_**"I may not agree with you saying that you own this place, but I also don't agree with him saying that as well. I'll help you take him down. Revenge!" **_**The Pokemon dashed forward and hit Steelix with a powerful uppercut, which did double damage due the type advantage, and even more damage due to the fact that Revenge did more damage if the user had taken damage. **

**The Pokemon jumped backwards and landed next to Meditite. Looking at her, he said, **_**"You know, if you want to survive this, you're going to have to help me out."**_

"_**At least tell me your name before you make demands!"**_** she replied.**

"…_**It's Machop."**_** He said with a bit of hesitation.**

"_**I'm Meditite." **_**She answered, shaking his hand. **

**Just then, Steelix got back up, shaking the pain away. **_**"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT ONE, PUNY MACHOP! ROCK THROW!"**_** he yelled. He used his tail and hurled a barrage of rocks at the two Pokemon. **

"_**Confusion!"**_** Meditite yelled. She used her psychic power and stopped the rocks. Steelix then tried to hurl more rocks, but they only got pulled into the glowing rocks Meditite had collected. Steelix, even with all his energy was getting worn down flinging all the rocks, and so was Meditite attempting to stop them. She finally couldn't take it anymore and hurled all the rocks back at Steelix. The huge amount of rocks, although it normally wouldn't do much damage, was able to give Steelix a huge wound. **

"_**Low Kick!"**_** Machop sprang into action, giving a deadly sweep kick to Steelix. Since Steelix was heavy, Low Kick did a lot of damage, enough to make Steelix faint. **

"_**That takes care of that."**_** Machop said, dusting off his hands. **

"_**Yep. Thanks, Machop."**_** Meditite said. He looked back at her and nodded. **

**Meditite suddenly felt a lot of energy drain out of her, and she fell to her knees. Machop's eyes widened, and he rushed over to her. **_**"What's wrong?"**_** he asked in concern. **

"_**All that Psychic power must have taken a larger toll than I thought. I can barely stand. I'll be fine, just let me rest for a bit." **_**Meditite said. **

**Machop looked at her for a long moment, and then sighed. **_**"I can't believe I have to do this."**_** He bent down and picked up Meditite bridal style, making her blush in embarrassment and gasp in surprise. She wrapped her arms around his neck for balance.**

"_**W-what are you doing?"**_** she stammered.**

"_**Someone's got to take care of you. It would be heartless of me to leave you in this uncomfortable cave to rest. I think it would be better to take you back to my home. It's not much, but it's a lot more comfortable than this cave." **_**Machop said. He then proceeded to carry her out of the cave, through some corridors, and into another cave. This one had moss laid out on flat rocks, as well as a small fire going. **

**Machop set her down onto one of the moss-covered rocks. It was surprisingly comfortable, and Meditite found herself beginning to feel sleepy. **_**"Good night, Machop."**_** She said sleepily. He looked at her in surprise, but she had already drifted off to sleep. **

**End flashback…**

Remembering how Machamp had helped all those years ago, Medicham immediately felt sorry that she had attacked Machamp so mercilessly. She was so angry at him that she had forgotten all the things he had done for her. Without warning, she broke down and started crying, ashamed of herself.

Machamp got up and walked over to Medicham, kneeling down so that he was at eye level with her. _"Are you all right?" _he asked. She looked up at him, grateful for his concern. She immediately jumped into his arms, letting him embrace her. Normally, he would hold back on his strength, holding her as if she was a fragile thing to be treated carefully, but this time, he hugged her with all his might, and she did the same for him. _"I love you." _Machamp whispered.

"_I love you, too."_ Medicham whispered back.

Kricketune and Roserade both screamed in anger. _"Blast you all!" _Kricketune screamed, although she seemed not to be as angry as she used to be.

"_How dare you, Medicham, saying that you would never forgive them, and now you are hugging Machamp like he's your lifeline!" _Roserade added, although her tone seemed to be softer than before.

"_Come on, Roserade, let's leave them. I've had enough."_ Kricketune said. She turned around and stalked into the forest. Roserade didn't follow her, but she left towards another way into the forest.

"_You guys should follow them, Drapion and Abomasnow."_ Infernape said. Drapion and Abomasnow nodded and separated, Drapion following Kricketune and Abomasnow following Roserade.

_With Drapion…_

Drapion was using the shadows. He may not be as good of a tracker as Luxray, but he could sneak up on people very easily despite his large size. This quality gave him the role of Leon's team's assassin. His ability, Sniper, also added to that nickname.

Now, he could see Kricketune brooding silently in a grove with some large rocks in it. _"Perfect." _he thought. Not bothering to hide, he revealed his presence to her. Despite this, she looked up in surprise, and upon seeing who it was, shot up.

"_Don't come near me."_ She warned. Drapion stopped and stared at her.

"_Why not?"_ he asked politely.

"_Because I don't trust you. I don't trust you or any of your fellow teammates. You're nothing but a lying jerk!" _Kricketune declared.

"_Really? Do you really feel that way?"_ Drapion asked.

"_What are you talking about?"_ Kricketune asked.

"_You don't seem as angry as you say. You can't fool me as easily as you do yourself. Stop lying to yourself. There's no real point."_ Drapion said solemnly.

"_What do you know about telling the truth, especially to yourself? You knew I was alive, and yet, you never did try to find me. Not you, or your teammates, or your master. Do you have any idea how painful it felt?"_ Kricketune asked.

"_At least you knew I was alive. You knew there was a chance that you could see me again. I, on the other hand, thought that there was absolutely no chance of us being reunited. Any pain that you felt, I felt, only even worse." _Drapion said.

"_You're going to need to a lot more than that to convince me."_ Kricketune replied.

"_Alright. Now, close your eyes until I tell you to do otherwise."_ Drapion commanded.

"_Why?"_ Kricketune asked with some suspicion.

"_Just do it."_ Drapion answered. Kricketune reluctantly obeyed. _"Turn around so that you aren't facing me."_ Kricketune also did this with some reluctance. As she did so, she could hear Drapion grunting, and then feel the ground shake a bit as something heavy was dropped onto the ground. For a few minutes after that, she could hear some screeching and more grunting.

"_Can I open my eyes now?"_ she asked with some annoyance after some time.

"_Almost done, don't worry."_ Drapion answered. After some last few minutes, Drapion stood back and inspected his work. It was the best he had ever created. Satisfied, Drapion said, _"Okay, you can open your eyes now."_

Kricketune turned around and opened her eyes. What she saw made her gasp in shock and pleasure. It was an excellent stone replica of herself. She stared at Drapion, amazed that he could do such a fine peace of work in such a short time.

"_I practiced on Mt. Silver. I started carving rocks in order to improve my claws' cutting ability. That's when I started thinking of you. For some reason, whenever I carved a replica of you, they would always turn out to be my best." _Drapion said.

"_Are you…telling the truth?"_ Kricketune asked.

"_I would never lie to you. By the time you had evolved, I was far inferior to you. That changed when I evolved from Skorupi into Drapion. That was when I took on Volkner and his Electivire. I wanted to impress you."_ Drapion said.

Kricketune shook her head. _"You had impressed me way before you evolved. You may have been weak as a Skorupi, but you demonstrated potential that caught my attention. Then, you battled alongside me several times in double battles, and despite the fact that you knew that you would be hurt, you protected me even when Leon didn't tell you to. Those times were what made fall in love with you."_ she admitted.

Drapion started to say something, but Kricketune cut him off. _"And now this."_ She gestured to the replica. _"When I saw this, I knew that you were right. I was lying to myself, saying that you never loved me back, and saying that I would never forgive you. I was wrong. I was too stubborn to admit that I had forgiven you a long time ago, even to myself. I also refused to admit that I love you."_ Drapion looked at her in surprise. _"That's right, Drapion. I love you."_

"_I never thought that you loved me this much. I had always thought that you were lovely, a princess among insects. Aside from your beauty, you are also kind and caring. Don't think I never heard you sneak off during the nighttime to help wild Pokemon sing their babies to sleep."_ Drapion chuckled. Kricketune looked rather embarrassed. _"No matter. That proved to me that you had a kind heart, and you had few hours of sleep because of it. You put others' well-being before your own. That's why I love you too, Kricketune."_

The two bug-like Pokemon were both enjoying each other's company. They walked closer to each other, their hearts joined by mutual love and understanding, with the cricket now at peace and the scorpion happy to be with the cricket again. They embraced each other for a few moments until they parted and walked back to where the rest of their teammates were, Drapion's claw holding Kricketune's.

_With Abomasnow…_

Leon's biggest Pokemon looked around for his much smaller former lover's presence. He was lucky to have fallen in love with a girl like Roserade. She had been impressed by Abomasnow's strength, and he by her gracefulness. They courted, and were probably among the most devastated when Leon's team and Sarah's team had separated.

Now Abomasnow was hoping to patch things up. He was the most quiet of Leon's team, but that was mostly because he spent his time observing his surroundings, unlike the others. He wasn't as good a tactician as Luxray, but he was able to think up strategies depending on his observation. Also, if something involved brute strength, Abomasnow was called in. This made him one of Leon's most useful Pokemon.

Now, as he looked around, he saw signs that Roserade had been here. He found her footprints, although he was unable to distinguish how old they were.

"_Poison Jab!"_ a voice suddenly cried.

"_Wood Hammer!" _Abomasnow responded quickly, raising two wooden hammer-shaped hands to counter the glowing purple rose-shaped fists launched at him. He didn't deliberately strike back; he just stopped the attacker dead in its tracks.

Abomasnow wasn't surprised when he saw the identity of the attacker. _"As I thought. It's you, Roserade."_

Roserade dropped to the ground. _"Humph, I guess you're still the same as ever. Despite your large size, you can react very quickly."_ She wouldn't look at Abomasnow.

"_Ignoring me? I guess that's to be expected. I did hurt you a lot." _Abomasnow reasoned.

"_It wasn't just you. Your entire team and your master. I'm not just speaking for my team; I'm speaking for Sarah as well. The pain that we felt after losing you paled in comparison to hers. No one in my team could understand that but me. I knew that the feelings she had for Leon were more than friendship. She seemed to have genuine feelings of love for him. I'm not a Luvdisc, I can't reunite lovers, but I was always there to help Sarah, because I sympathized with her. I, too, had lost a lover." _Roserade glared pointedly at Abomasnow. Unfortunately, she had to tilt her head way back since Abomasnow was bigger than she was.

"_I understand. Here's a little secret. Leon missed Sarah deeply. He never really accepted the idea that she was dead. He reminisced in secret every night. He always had a picture of her in a heart shaped-frame. And he wasn't the only one reminiscing. All my teammates, as well as myself, thought about you every night in our Poke Balls. We never felt that you were our friends."_ Roserade looked shocked. _"We always thought you were far more. I believe Luxray said that out loud."_ Abomasnow answered.

"_So you…"_ Roserade began.

"_Infernape loves Lopunny, Luxray loves Ninetales, Staraptor loves Swellow, Machamp loves Medicham, Drapion loves Kricketune, and I love you."_ Abomasnow said.

Roserade looked down for a minute, and then she looked back up. _"Let me tell you something. What I said in the field…it was an act. I probably was the only one who realized straight away that you couldn't find us. You truly thought that we were dead. However, I still loved you, and I was so happy when I saw you again. That's why…I feel like I want to be with you forever."_

Abomasnow lifted her up by the waist and kissed her. _"Forever then."_ He murmured. He then proceeded to carry her back to the field, where the rest of their teammates were probably waiting.

**I am very, very, very sorry for the long wait. This chapter was really hard to think up. As you can see, it is a lot longer than my normal. **

**Anyway, next time I'll show you what the trainers were doing during these events. There's going to be fluff, so prepare yourself.**

**Also, please review. The review count lately has been very weak. I know some of you may hate me for taking so long to update, but review anyway.**


	6. Aura Guardians Arc: Leon's Confession

**I apologize for the long update period. If you want to know my reasons for taking so long, just look at Chapter 14 of my other story, **_**A Journey of Majestic Valor**_.

**Anyway, in the last few chapters we have seen the Pokémon fluff between Leon and Sarah's teams. Now it's time for the human fluff. Here's Leon and Sarah's part. Ash and Anabel's part will be posted soon**.

"Your mom's a great cook, Ash." Leon said.

"Ditto." Paul agreed.

"Thank you, boys. I did my best. Feeding Ash all these years can give you a lot of practice, especially with his appetite." Delia joked.

"Moooommmmm…." Ash whined. Everyone laughed. After leaving the Pokémon at Professor Oak's lab, the entire gang went to Ash's house for lunch. Luckily, Mrs. Ketchum was truly an excellent cook.

Ash finished his lunch and put his bowl down. "Alright, I'm going to go check on the Pokémon." He said.

"Actually, I'll go. I'm the one who left my Pokémon in that situation in the first place. You have to catch up with your friends, Ash. Let's just hope for the best that Sarah's team didn't give my team a brutal beating, or the other way around." Leon said.

Sarah stood up as well. "I'll go along with you. I have to make sure that your team didn't counter my team's attack, if they actually attacked, and gave them a brutal beating. If my team is full of bruises, I'll show you a brutal beating." She threatened.

Leon gulped, and then the two of them left. Everyone else couldn't help but notice how closely they seemed to be walking.

"So Ash, how have you been?" Max asked.

"Yeah, tell us." May added.

"OK, let me put it this way. Paul, Leon, and I had a vigorous training regimen on Mt. Silver in Johto. All of us trained hard enough to eventually be able to defeat every trainer that managed to even make it through Mt. Silver. Of, course there were also the cave-ins, the rockslides, and the numerous and powerful wild Pokémon. Basically, it was dangerous at best." Ash explained.

"But, on the good side, we managed to get much stronger. If the three of us were to take on Lance, Steven, and Cynthia in a three-on-three battle, I'm not sure who would win." Paul added.

"You've gotten strong enough to take on the Kanto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh Champions!" Brock asked in disbelief.

"That would be the idea. Also, our instincts have grown." Ash said.

"Meaning?" Misty asked.

"All of us can hear a whispered voice in a party, smell a rose from a few yards away, and spot a Kecleon anywhere. Also, we can exhibit a decent control over aura. All of us can use Aura Sphere, and we can also concentrate aura into weapons. Ash's specialty is a sword, mine is an axe, and Leon's is a spear. Of course, we rarely use them." Paul explained. Everyone's mouths dropped open.

"Anyway, Anabel, how'd you meet Sarah?" Ash asked.

"Oh, she's just a girl who Scott recommended to me. She's strong enough to take me on, which is why she's my substitute for when I have errands and there's a challenger." Anabel explained.

"By the way, about that…didn't Leon and Sarah seem to be walking really close to each other?" May asked.

"Oh, dear. Looks like two people are in looooove." Drew sang.

"It's a good thing Leon didn't hear that, or he would beat the crap out of you." Paul muttered.

_With Leon and Sarah…_

At Professor Oak's lab, Leon sneezed. "Ugh, I wonder if someone's talking about me." he said.

Sarah sighed. "Leon, that is so cliché."

"Oh, come on, don't you watch movies? Whenever someone sneezes, it's because someone else is talking about him." Leon said. Sarah sighed again.

"Leon! Sarah! What are you two doing back here so soon?" It was Gary.

"Oh, hey, Gary. We were just here to check up on the Pokémon. Did any of them get brutally beaten by any chance?" Sarah asked.

Gary snickered. "Well, about that…"

"What?" Leon asked.

"See for yourself." Gary said. He led them out into the field. What Leon and Sarah saw there surprised them to no end.

Leon's Infernape and Sarah's Lopunny were sleeping next to each other under a tree, with Lopunny's head on Infernape's shoulder and Infernape's head on Lopunny's head.

Leon's Luxray and Sarah's Ninetales were curled up around each other under another tree.

Leon's Staraptor and Sarah's Swellow perched next to each other in the tree that Infernape and Lopunny were sleeping under.

Leon's Machamp and Sarah's Medicham were sleeping next to each other, with their hands intertwined under a third tree.

Leon's Drapion was sleeping under a fourth tree with Sarah's Kricketune on its back.

Leon's Abomasnow was sleeping under a fifth tree with Sarah's Roserade on its stomach.

All twelve Pokémon had one thing in common- the content smiles on their faces.

"Wow, this was unexpected." Leon said. Then he walked over to Infernape. "Hey, Infernape, get up."

Infernape merely snuggled up closer to Lopunny, who sighed and unconsciously wrapped her arms around him.

Sarah giggled. "Let me show you how it's done." She stepped forward and yelled, "Everyone, lunchtime!" This made every single one of the Pokémon wake up and swarm around the two trainers in excitement.

Leon's mouth fell open, and then he closed it and smiled. "Well, I can see that they still are excited when you call them to lunch. You always were a good cook." Leon commented.

"You weren't that bad of a cook either. The only reason I was better is because you didn't pay as much attention." Sarah replied.

The two of them smiled at the flood of memories that came back. At the tender age of 10, they learned how to cook from Sarah's mother. By the time they were 11, they were both average cooks that could still serve up a decent meal. The two trainers had been friends for ages, and even without the ones about cooking, Leon and Sarah had both shared great memories.

"Sarah?" Leon said.

"Hmm?" she asked, looking at him.

"I want to tell you something." Leon looked away, and all of the Pokémon leaned in eagerly to listen. They couldn't help but notice that Leon had a slight blush on his face.

And so did Sarah as she said, "Well? Out with it!"

Leon looked back up. "Sarah…I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect you when the villains destroyed our town. I'm sorry that I couldn't protect your family. I guess that I was so concerned with myself that I forgot about you. I was selfish, even after I promised to be with you forever."

Sarah turned a bit redder. "I don't think you ever promised me that."

Leon continued. "I promised that we'd be friends forever, which is essentially the same thing. I'll never forgive myself, but I wish you could forgive me, at least. Not only for not being able to protect you, but also for not being able to protect your family, your Pokémon and for leaving you when you were sure I was alive. Sarah, I'm so sorry…"

"Stop." Sarah cut him off by raising a hand. Then she took a deep breath and spoke again. "Leon, stop apologizing. I was angry when you left without a thought that I would be alive. My Pokémon were angry with yours when they left with you. However, I've forgiven you so long ago. I just couldn't stay mad at you. It was impossible. My Pokémon were mad when we met up this morning, but now, they can't seem to leave your team alone!"

Leon opened his mouth to say something, but Sarah was on a roll. "I know how you feel. I know that you have a sense of justice and responsibility, which makes you angry with yourself when you cannot protect those close to you. I've known you for ten years, and do you remember any times that I have ever, ever held a long-lasting grudge against you? No. I've learned to forgive and forget, because for some reason, I can't stay mad at you." By now, she and Leon had edged closer to another, until they were so close that their bodies pressed against each other a bit.

"Um, Sarah?" Leon asked, realizing their position.

"What?" she asked.

"Uuuhhh, we're a little too close to each other?" Leon tried. Sarah understood, but she didn't let go. "Sarah?"

Sarah simply put her head on his chest and hugged him. "Leon…I guess what I'm trying to say is…I completely forgive you. And…missed you. So much." Sarah murmured.

Leon sighed and put his arms around her. "I missed you, too." All the Pokémon sighed. Leon and Sarah glared at them playfully, but kept their arms around each other, just hugging.

Finally, Leon decided to make the first move. What he was about to do may increase their relationship or tear it apart forever. "Sarah? There's something else." She looked at him quizzically, and gasped when he closed the already-short distance between them and joined their lips. Slowly, Sarah hugged him even tighter to her and kissed back with just as much love, much to his delight. Both people were putting all their feelings into this one kiss, and nothing could stop either of them, except for one thing.

"Leon! Sarah! What are you guys doing?" Both of them were so caught up in their kiss that they didn't notice the rest of the group open the door leading from the lab building to the field.

Ash, Paul, Anabel, May, Drew, Max, Brock, Misty, Gary, Tracey, Professor Oak, and all the Pokémon were standing there, and their mouths were wide open.

"Um, hi?" Leon tried.

"Leon, that was the most amazing thing I have ever seen you do!" Ash laughed.

Paul laughed as well. "I should have known. Feelings of friendship can easily evolve into feelings of love, and those feelings evolve even greater when the two lovers are separated."

"Guys, we were never lovers in the first place! Just friends!" Leon protested.

"That's not what we saw." May giggled.

"You guys definitely have feelings of love coming towards you. I can feel it." Anabel said. Ash and Paul both nodded, being able to use their aura to sense feelings.

Unfortunately, Leon also had this ability, and he used it against Ash. "You're not exactly scot-free when it comes to romantic feelings, Ash!" Leon said.

Ash turned red. "What are you talking about?"

Paul laughed. "You think we didn't notice? We've been detecting feelings of love for a certain someone in this group. Apparently, this someone doesn't know it yet, although she might and is really good at hiding it."

Ash blushed. "OK, I admit it. I do have feelings for a certain girl in this group. On the other hand, I can't tell the rest of this group. I want to keep this a secret between the three of us." Paul and Leon nodded solemnly, but everyone else grumbled a bit. Leon and Sarah then let each other go and joined the rest of the group after returning their Pokémon to their Poke Balls. Everyone else did the same.

As they were about to leave, Ash and Leon turned to Paul. "By the way, Paul…what's going on between you and a certain…blunette?" Ash asked.

"A certain blunette…that Ash used to travel with?" Leon asked. Paul tried to shut them up. Luckily, no one else seemed to hear.

"I'll tell you tomorrow." Paul said.

**Well, that was pretty fluffy, huh? I know that I could be boring you with all the fluff I'm writing, but I will be writing some action for this story. **

**Next time, we'll have Ash and Anabel's part as well as some action. Hope you enjoyed, and for GOD'S SAKE, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	7. Aura Guardians Arc: Back to Sinnoh!

**Now, finally, AbilityShipping fluff. Also, this will be the chapter that the plot starts to take off.**

_Later that night…_

Everyone was sleeping under the roofs of either Ash or Gary's houses. However, there was a certain lavender-haired girl that chose to take a midnight walk with her Espeon.

Salon Maiden Anabel was rather apprehensive about what had transpired during the day. She had learned that Ash was hiding himself at Mt. Silver for so long. She learned that one of his companions was a childhood friend of her own friend. A superstitious person may believe that it was destiny for Ash and Anabel to be together due to that, but Anabel didn't believe in such things, and needed more proof.

Coincidentally, that was exactly what she had gotten. She had learned that Ash did indeed have feelings for one of the girls in the group. It had to be either Misty, May, or herself.

Anabel started thinking. _"What if it was me? No, that's not it. It couldn't be. It's probably Misty or May, even though they have boyfriends. But…I couldn't sense any sadness coming from Ash when he found out that both Misty and May had boyfriends. Either he does like me, or he is really good at hiding his feelings. No…I can't start thinking like that. I like him so much, but what would I have to offer him? He's strong and brave, and I am just an average girl. Sure, I'm a Frontier Brain, but I'm not beautiful."_

She hung her head down in sadness, and Espeon rubbed her head against Anabel to comfort her. Anabel patted Espeon's head in return, causing her to purr.

Suddenly, Espeon's head jerked up and focused on a point in the shadows. Anabel looked towards that point and saw that there was a darker shape mixed in with the shadows. "Who's there?" she cried.

The shadow moved to reveal the object of her thoughts. "Hey, Anabel." Ash greeted calmly, with Pikachu perched on his shoulder.

"A-ash!" she gasped, turning red.

The boy walked towards her. "It looks like we both had the same idea, didn't we?" Pikachu jumped down to greet Espeon, who shyly mewed a greeting in return.

"What are you doing out here? You should be in bed!" Anabel scolded.

"I could say the same for you." Ash retorted.

"Well, I just wanted to take a midnight walk, that's all." Anabel explained.

"I was going to the bathroom when I saw you outside. You should've been in bed, so I decided to follow you." Ash replied. Then he noticed her expression and grew concerned. "Hey, what's up? You look kind of tense."

"It's nothing." Anabel was being evasive, and Ash knew it.

"Come on, you know you can tell me. We are friends, after all." Ash reasoned.

"You don't understand. This is something I can't tell you!" With that, she shoved Ash away and ran away from him and the house.

"Was it something I said?" he asked.

"Chaaaa~" Pikachu groaned, slapping his forehead.

"Esp espeon esp!" Espeon barked, beckoning her head towards the direction that Anabel ran.

"You think I should go after her, huh?" Ash asked. Both Pokémon nodded. "Alright. I have my own reasons, anyway." He dashed off in pursuit of Anabel, while Pikachu and Espeon exchanged knowing glances.

_Later…_

"Anabel! Wait up!" Anabel ignored the cries, just kept on running. She was too embarrassed. She wasn't sure if she was ready to face heartbreak if Ash turned her down.

"Heyy, sweet thing." Anabel stopped in her tracks. A dirty-looking man had stepped in front of her, smiling creepily. "What's a pretty little flower like you doing out here all alone?"

"G-get away from me!" Anabel yelled, stepping away. The man advanced closer, and his smile grew even more crooked.

"I could get you home if you want…" He continued."…for a cost."

Anabel knew exactly what the cost was, and she started backing up even faster. When she turned around to run, she felt something clamp hard onto her wrist. She saw that the man had grabbed her wrist, obviously to restrain her. When she tried to slap him, all the man did was grab her other wrist and pull her in so close that she could smell his rancid breath. "LET…ME…GO!" she screamed.

"And who's gonna make me?" the man said with a grin.

"Me." It was Ash, and he looked beyond furious. "You heard what she said. Let her go."

"Oh, and here's your knight in shining armor. I'll show you a thing your two about being a real man!" He lifted Anabel up and tossed her into a tree, where she lay.

"ANABEL!" Ash yelled. Then he looked at the man with hatred. The man began to charge.

Ash charged up a ball of energy in his hands and fired it at rock without looking. He scored a direct hit, shattered it and burned a path in the grass behind the rock.

The man stopped him his tracks, now scared for his life. "I'll give you three seconds. If you don't get out of here by then, it's your funeral." Ash growled. Then he held up three fingers. "Three…two…one." By two, the man had scrambled away like a screaming baby.

Ash quickly ran over to Anabel. To his relief, she didn't seem that badly hurt. "Anabel! Wake up!" He shook her gently, and she stirred. "Are you all right?" he asked.

She threw herself into his arms, crying into his shoulder. "Ash…I'm so glad you're here. I was so scared…"

"Sssh…it's all right, I'm here." He hugged, trying to comfort her. By now, Pikachu and Espeon had shown up and ran over to the two.

"Anabel…what's really wrong? Why did you run off like that?" Ash asked. His face was scrunched up with worry.

"Why, Ash?" Anabel cried. It was muffled, but Ash could still hear what she was saying. "Why do you ask me these things? Why do you worry about me so much? I'm not worth all the trouble."

Ash's eyes widened. "What? What are you talking about? You and I became such great companions over our short time together. I missed you over the time that I was in Mt. Silver. For some reason, my thoughts just kept straying back to you."

Ash then smiled sadly. "Of course, there is one thing that I regret doing to you. Not being able to read your heart." Anabel jerked up as Ash pressed his gloved hand against her chest, but Ash didn't let go.

Instead, Ash was instantly wrapped in a soft blanket of infinite warmth. Ash was experienced with dealing with intense feelings, but even he was taken aback by the intensity of Anabel's love.

Unfortunately, being the dense person that he was, Ash had no idea what this blanket was. _"What is this? It's not what I expected at all. It can't be… can it?" _Ash dug even deeper until he found something even more surprising. There, at the very end of the blanket, were images of himself; smiling, laughing, and hugging Anabel._ "Oh, Arceus, I had no idea…"_

Ash finally pulled out. Anabel smiled weakly at him. "So now you know." She murmured.

"Anabel… why didn't you tell me?" Ash asked. He was now holding both of her hands in his.

"I was afraid that you would reject me. Why would you like me, much less love me? I'm not beautiful. You're strong, brave, and passionate about Pokémon. What would I have to offer you?" Anabel asked. She had begun crying again.

Ash didn't answer. He gave no response for a while, only looked at her with seemingly no emotion. Then, no one was more surprised them Anabel when Ash wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. She was surprised for a moment, but relaxed and kissed back. They held the kiss for a few moments until Ash broke away.

"If you thought that I didn't like you, you're wrong. You knew that I liked either you, Misty, or May." Ash said.

"I never thought it would be me. I thought it might have been one of the other two." Anabel replied.

Ash shook his head. "I love them, but only as sisters. They're like the sisters I never had. You, on the other hand, are the one that I love romantically."

Anabel was jubilant that Ash loved her back. She threw his arms around his neck and kissed him again, to which Ash replied with much pleasure.

When they broke apart, Ash smiled. "Let's head back. We have to get our rest." He said. Anabel nodded, and they called Pikachu and Espeon, and then walked back together. When they got back to the Ketchum residence, Ash escorted Anabel to her room and kissed her goodnight. When he laid down with Pikachu in his own room, he felt like the happiest man in the world.

_The next morning…_

Ash and Pikachu awoke to a bucket of water. They jolted up to see May and Drew laughing.

"Rise and shine, Ash." May said.

"What the…I thought you guys went to Professor Oak's lab to spend the night!" Ash exclaimed.

"We did, but May wanted to wake you up the old-fashioned way. You were sleeping like a rock!" Drew laughed.

"Shut up. Now get out so I can change!" Ash commanded. Still laughing, May and Drew left.

Ash got up and dressed into an outfit that was among his favorites in Mt. Silver- an Aura Guardian's fedora, a white shirt, a blue vest, black pants, brown boots, a blue trench coat and black gloves.

After brushing, he walked downstairs, and instantly all eyes were on him. Delia, May, Drew, Max, Misty, Brock and Anabel were all staring as he and Pikachu calmly walked down.

"Dude, what's with the outfit?" Drew asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, it's awesome, okay?" Ash replied.

"True, but…" Max started, but Anabel interrupted him.

"Wow, Ash, you look, amazing." Anabel said, blushing.

Ash smiled at her. "Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself." It was true. Anabel was basically wearing something similar her usual outfit, but she had replaced the lavender pants with a lavender skirt, and she was wearing a lavender cape. Her shoulder-length hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Ash could feel his heart rate increasing as he looked at her.

"Hey, lovebirds. Snap out of it." Misty said. Ash and Anabel snapped out of it.

"Aww, did something happen between you two?" May gushed.

"What do you think?" It was Leon, who leaning against the doorway with his arms folded. Sarah was standing next to him.

"Good morning, everyone." Sarah greeted. Leon merely nodded.

"Really, Leon? You just had to wear that outfit?" Ash asked, a bit annoyed at Leon's outfit.

"What? The outfit is awesome." Leon replied. He was wearing the same kinds of clothes that Ash was wearing, only where Ash's was blue, Leon's was green, and instead of a trench coat, he had a cape. Sarah was wearing a white blouse, a blue denim jacket, black pants, and black boots.

"So, Ash, you finally told her?" Leon asked.

"Yeah, Anabel and I just became a couple last night, actually." Ash said sheepishly.

"Oooh, my little Ashy-boy is growing up!" Delia giggled.

"Congratulations." A new voice said gruffly. Leon moved to reveal Paul, who, ironically, was dressed in the same outfit as Ash and Leon, only his was white on top and black on the bottom.

"Hello, Paul." Delia greeted him. Paul grunted.

"Professor Oak just got a call from Professor Rowan. Apparently, something's happening in Sinnoh, and he wants to talk to us about it." Paul said.

"Wait, by us, you mean you, Ash, and Leon?" Sarah asked.

"No, I mean everyone who's in his room right now, besides Mrs. Ketchum." Paul replied.

"Alright, then. Let's finish breakfast fast." Ash decided. And so they did. The last person to finish eating was Max, and he took ten minutes.

"OK, let's move." Drew said. Everyone ran out the door to Professor Oak's lab.

_At the lab…_

"WHAT?" Paul roared.

"Yes, I'm afraid it's true. Last night, some mysterious men began attacking Twinleaf Town in Sinnoh, and they took Dawn, the girl that Ash used to travel with in Sinnoh." Professor Oak explained.

"We have to get over there immediately!" Paul demanded.

"Paul, calm down, what is wrong with you?" Brock asked.

"We just have to go!" Paul yelled.

"Wait. Did the kidnappers say anything?" Max asked.

"Yes. Professor Rowan sent me this message from the kidnappers." Professor Oak said.

He began to play the message. _"If you want to see Miss Dawn again, you'll come to Veilstone City immediately." _It was a creepy but a familiar voice to Ash, Brock, Paul, Leon and Sarah.

"I know that voice." Leon said.

"You remember it, too, right?" Sarah asked. Leon nodded at her.

"What? Who is it?" Misty asked.

"That voice…it belonged to the one who destroyed our town." Sarah said. Leon growled and clenched his fists.

"In any case, I have an inkling of who that was, but I don't trust it. There's no way that _he _could be back." Ash said.

"There's a chance. He was very persistent the last time we saw him." Paul growled.

"Wait, what? Both of you have an idea of who it is? I mean, it did sound familiar, but I couldn't place it." Brock said.

"I'm not too sure. My instincts are battling with my common sense." Ash said.

"Guys, enough discussion, and let's get on with it! We have to go to Sinnoh!" Max demanded.

"I agree completely, but I have to deal with something first. Professor, can I use your videophone?" Paul asked. Professor Oak nodded and Paul walked over to the said machine. He dialed a number and a face he hadn't seen in a long time answered the phone.

Reggie was shocked. _"P-p-p-Paul?"_ he gasped.

"Hey, big brother. It's been a while." Paul greeted.

"_A while? It's been six years! You have any idea how worried I was? After you disappeared from the Sinnoh League along with Ash, I couldn't contact you!"_ Reggie exclaimed angrily.

"Reggie, calm down. Anyway, I'm going to return home tonight, maybe tomorrow at the latest. Can you make an especially large dinner tonight? One that will feed at least twelve people?" Paul asked.

"_Why? What's the occasion?"_ Reggie asked.

"Well, let me put it this way. Someone's in trouble, and nine trainers are on their way to Veilstone City because we heard that the someone who's in trouble is being held there." Paul said.

"_Alright then, just be back. All your reserves have been well-trained, so you should come see them."_ Reggie said.

"Thanks, big brother. See you soon." Paul said. He then he cut off the connection, and looked at everyone else. "It's set. We should leave immediately."

Ash nodded and stepped outside. "We're going to have to fly to Vermillion City. That's where the port is. There, we can take a boat to Sinnoh." Then he took out two Poke Balls, while Paul, Leon, Sarah, and Drew each took out one.

"Pidgeot! Charizard!" Ash called.

"Honchkrow!" Paul yelled.

"Staraptor!" Leon called.

"Swellow!" Sarah commanded.

"Flygon!" Drew called.

The six Pokémon appeared, all of them ready to fly. "Everyone, same arrangements as last time!" Ash commanded. Everyone complied, sitting on the same Pokémon that they did to get to Pallet Town.

"To Vermillion City!" Ash commanded. Pidgeot and Charizard nodded and took flight, the other four Pokémon trailing behind them.

**OK, I admit it, the characters are a bit OOC, but I can't help it. Besides, they've all matured, so it's natural that they would act like this.**

**Anyway, I won't be updating for a while because during Midwinter Break, I'll be in Florida! YAAAAAAAYYYYY…..not. Unlike most people, Disney World doesn't interest me. I would actually prefer the cold New York City at this time than go to Florida. I don't really like to travel, and I prefer just staying home, chilling, and updating my fanfiction. Seriously, I wish I had a laptop.**

**Sorry for rambling, and please review! **


	8. Aura Guardians Arc: The Enemy Revealed

**I'm starting to get lazy about updating this story. Oh well, since **_**A Journey of Majestic Valor**_** has been completed, I'll spend more time on this story.**

**Enjoy!**

"You know, if this was a movie, all we would need is some kind of music to show that this is lame and boring." Leon said, to the annoyance of everyone else.

They were currently on a ship towards Twinleaf Town in Sinnoh. This particular ship was normally reserved for the top competitors of any Pokémon League at any time, and any guests that those competitors might have.

Luckily, with four former members of the top four of the Sinnoh Leagues of the past, a Frontier Brain, two top coordinators, two gym leaders, and a gym leader's son, they were able to get access to this ship, even though the pay was rather high.

"We really don't need your movie references at this time. We're on a rescue mission here!" Paul said.

"All right, all right, just trying to lighten the mood." Leon muttered.

"You know, the best way to lighten the mood is with a Pokémon battle, so how about you and me battle, Ash?" Max challenged. Everyone looked at him in surprise.

"Max, are you insane? You know how strong Ash has gotten!" Misty said.

"Hey, I can't get better if I don't battle with the best." Max said.

"True. All right, Max, if you want to battle, then so be it!" Ash replied.

"Yes!" Max exclaimed, jumping in the air.

"Wait, hold on." Drew said. He ran off towards the captain's room, and then came back a few minutes later. "Just wanted to get permission from the captain. He cleared it, but he just wants us not to battle too intensely so as not to ruin the ship."

"Whoa, you've grown up, Drew." Ash remarked.

"Well, you can blame this little girl over here." Drew said, pointing at May.

"Yep. Women will always have a power over men. Even the strongest man can fall to a woman." Brock stated.

"Are you talking about how you got put in your place by Misty?" May teased. Brock looked away.

"Um, wouldn't it be best to start the battle now?" Anabel asked.

"Oh, yeah." Ash said sheepishly.

_Two minutes later…_

The Pokémon battle between Ash of Pallet Town and Max of Petalburg City will now commence! Each trainer will use three Pokémon, and the loser will be determined by whoever loses all three Pokémon. Begin!" Brock declared.

"Charizard, I choose you!" Ash called. Charizard emerged with a proud cry.

"Rapidash, let's go!" Max commanded. Rapidash emerged with a strong neigh.

"You take the initiative, Max." Ash offered.

"Rapidash, Take Down!" Max ordered. Rapidash dashed forward with full force.

"Charizard, Dragonbreath!" Ash commanded. Charizard fired a burst of green flames at the charging Rapidash, which took a direct hit.

"Don't give up! Use Fury Attack!" Max yelled. Rapidash dashed forward again.

"Block it with your wings!" Ash yelled. As Rapidash struck at Charizard with its horn, Charizard's wings pushed back every jab from Rapidash with one slap.

"Can Charizard's wings really take that much damage?" Misty asked.

"Yeah, we've come up with different ways to use different moves." Leon explained.

"But look. Charizard is being pushed back with every jab. Rapidash is stronger than we thought." Paul said.

Paul wasn't the only one to notice that Charizard was being pushed. Ash knew he had to finish this, no matter how little the damage was. "Charizard! Seismic Toss!" Charizard jumped out from behind its wings and took flight, taking Rapidash with it. It then looped in a few perfect circles before it came down and tossed Rapidash onto the ground.

When the dust cleared, Rapidash was lying on the ground with swirls for its eyes. "Rapidash is unable to battle! Charizard is the winner!" Brock yelled.

Charizard roared in triumph while Max returned Rapidash to its Poke Ball. Then he took out another one. "Vigoroth, let's go!" The hyper monkey emerged, jumping around.

"Vigoroth, Uproar!" Max yelled. Vigoroth hooted and released a huge sound wave, causing Charizard to cover its ears. "Now, while it's distracted! Slash!" Vigoroth stopped the sound wave and struck Charizard with powerful claws, causing the mighty dragon to falter.

"Not too bad! Flamethrower!" Ash commanded. Charizard fired a powerful burst of flames at Vigoroth, who dodged it promptly.

"Your Vigoroth is pretty fast, but so is Charizard!" Ash said. Charizard flew slightly above the ground and stopped right in front of Vigoroth, taking it by surprise. "Now once more, Flamethrower!" At close range, Charizard's Flamethrower was a lot more painful, and Vigoroth managed to get away with serious burns.

"Come on, Vigoroth, you can do it! Focus Punch!" Max yelled. Vigoroth charged up a powerful punch and ran forward.

"Charizard, Dragonbreath!" Charizard sent out a burst of green flames again, but unlike Rapidash, Vigoroth was able to block the move with the Focus Punch, surprising all the spectators. Vigoroth endured the pain and struck Charizard with Focus Punch. The scene held for a few seconds as the spectators waited for the outcome of the attack.

Charizard looked down at Vigoroth, closed its eyes and sighed, shaking its head slightly. Then it slowly removed the fist and dropped it, and with the fist down, so was Vigoroth.

"Vigoroth is unable to battle! Charizard is the winner!" Brock yelled.

"Vigoroth, return!" Max commanded. "You did great. Just take a rest."

"Max, your Pokémon are strong, but if you want to beat Charizard, you'll have to send out your best!" Ash said.

"All right, then." Max murmured. He took out another Poke Ball, and stared at it. "We've been together for a really long time…" he started, but Ash stopped him.

"Wait, Max. I think we should make this a bit more interesting. Why don't we make this a two-on-two?" Ash offered.

"Really?" Max asked. Ash nodded, taking out another Poke Ball, while Max did the same.

"This is going to be fun to watch." Paul said.

"I choose you, Sceptile!" Ash's Sceptile joined Charizard on the field.

"Gallade, Sceptile, let's go!" Max yelled. The two Sceptile looked at each other from across the field, calmly judging each other. Ash's Sceptile smirked.

"Gallade, Psycho Cut on Charizard! Sceptile, Leaf Blade on Ash's Sceptile!" Max commanded.

"Charizard, Flamethrower to counter. Sceptile, use your own Leaf Blade." Ash said.

Charizard's burst of fire easily overpowered Gallade's wave of energy, and the soldier-like Pokémon took a direct hit. Meanwhile, Ash's Sceptile was much faster and stronger than Max's Sceptile, and Max's Sceptile took a direct hit.

"Max will have to do better than that." Sarah said.

"Gallade, Close Combat! Sceptile, X-Scissor!" Max yelled.

Using their speed, the two Pokémon quickly caught Ash's Pokémon by surprise and scored some damage, pushing them back.

"Sceptile, Giga Drain on Gallade! Charizard, Dragonbreath on Max's Sceptile!" Ash commanded.

As Max's Pokémon fell back, Charizard and Sceptile used their own speed. Charizard released the burst of green flames on Max's Sceptile, while Ash's Sceptile released a burst of green tendrils from its hands at Gallade, draining its energy. Gallade went down, but Max's Sceptile didn't.

"Gallade is unable to battle!" Brock declared.

"This doesn't look good for Max. Even if he somehow manages to defeat one of Ash's Pokémon, Ash still has two more that can be used in this battle. I'm afraid Max is at his limit." Anabel said.

"Oh, Max…" May murmured.

"Your little brother fought valiantly, but it's over." Paul growled.

Suddenly, Max's Sceptile started glowing with green energy, catching the surprise of everyone.

"You may have spoken too soon, Paul." Leon said.

"Overgrow…Sceptile's ability! It activates when Sceptile is at its weakest, and then its Grass-Type moves get extra power!" Sarah gasped.

Ash was also surprised, as were his Pokémon. Then he grinned. "All right, Max! It looks like Sceptile's ability has finally been activated! I shouldn't hold back any more! Charizard, Overheat! Sceptile, Solar Beam!"

"Sceptile, Frenzy Plant!" Max countered.

Charizard released a burst of white-hot flames, while Max's Sceptile fired a whirling set of sharp vines outlined with the green energy from Overgrow. The two attacks met. Meanwhile, Ash's Sceptile charged up solar energy and fired a powerful blast from its mouth. With that, the three attacks collided and exploded from the raw energy.

When the dust settled, all three Pokémon were fainted. "All three Pokémon are unable to battle! However, since Ash of Pallet Town still has two Pokémon allowed to be used in this battle, and Max of Petalburg City has none, Ash is the winner!" Brock declared.

Ash smiled. "You battled with all your might, Max, and that's what it's all about. Good job!"

"Thanks, Ash!" Max said.

Just then, an announcement came onto the loudspeaker. "We are approaching Twinleaf Town right now. Please gather up all your belongings. We are arriving in ten minutes."

"That's our cue. Let's move." Paul growled.

As they got off the ship, Ash and Brock looked around, rather nostalgic. "Hey, come on! We don't have all day!" Misty called.

"Here's something else we don't have- any idea where to go!" Leon added.

"We should go to Dawn's house first. Maybe her mom can give us some information." Ash said, leading the way.

_At Dawn's house…_

Ash had to ring the doorbell before an answer came. "No comment."

Using his aura sense, Ash was able to pinpoint the speaker. "Johanna, it's me, Ash Ketchum." The door swung open to reveal a blue-haired, middle-aged woman. This was Dawn's mother.

"A-ash? It can't be! You've grown so much since the last time I saw you!" Johanna said.

"It has been a while. Unfortunately, we can't stay here. We have a lead on where Dawn is, but we need some information." Ash said.

"Oh? And who are these people?" Johanna asked, peeking out at the entire party.

"Don't worry about it. They're not reporters. All of them are strong. Paul was my major rival in Sinnoh back then, if you recall. Leon is just as strong as the two of us, since we all trained on Mt. Silver." Ash introduced, pointing to the two boys in turn.

"Then, we have Brock and Misty. Brock, as you already know is a Gym leader in Kanto, and Misty has the same status, also a gym leader in Kanto. Plus, they're going out." Brock and Misty greeted Johanna as well, with blushes.

"Then, we have Anabel and Sarah, two Battle Frontier Brains from Kanto. They run the Battle Tower, and Anabel's my girlfriend. Sarah is Leon's girlfriend." Both Ash and Anabel blushed a bit as Ash said this.

"Quit revealing who's going out with who!" Leon muttered.

"Finally, we have May, Max, and Drew. May and Drew are both Top Coordinators, and they're dating, too. Max is May's little brother, and he's a Gym Leader in training."

"All of us are going to save your daughter. We're just going to ask you exactly who kidnapped her." Paul said.

"In that case, we'll talk about it over lunch. Come in, everyone." Johanna led them in.

_Later…_

"It happened just a few nights ago. I was in my room when I heard screaming coming from Dawn's room. I raced upstairs, thinking that she had a nightmare. However, it was something far worse. When I went in, I saw this man stuffing my baby into a sack. Then he looked at me and said, "If you want to see Miss Dawn again, you'll come to Veilstone City immediately. Tell them all that Team Galactic is back!" And then he jumped out the window." Johanna explained. As she spoke, she started to cry into a tissue.

Ash was deep in thought. "So, that voice on the transmission that Professor Rowan sent to us…"

"Without a doubt. That was Cyrus, the Team Galactic leader." Paul said.

"And if that's true, then he was the one to destroy our hometown." Sarah added.

"Galactic Leader Cyrus…you'll pay for this." Leon growled.

"Thank you for your time, Johanna." Brock said.

"And for the lunch! You cook as well as Ash's mom does!" May laughed.

"We'll find your daughter, and if Team Galactic tries to stop us, then fine! We'll take them down anyway!" Misty declared.

"Thank you, and good luck." Johanna said.

When the party stepped outside, Ash turned to look at them. "All right, we know what we're up against. If Team Galactic is back, then that means that we'll have to deal with them. We can't let them threaten Sinnoh again!" Ash said.

"Team Galactic grunts aren't that hard to deal with. Their only strength is numbers. Take them on individually, and you'll be fine. It's Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn that you'll have to worry about." Paul said.

"Wait. What? Why are we talking about planets?" Max said.

"Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are the direct underlings of Cyrus. Sarah and I took them on before, and they're tough." Leon explained.

"So, basically, we have fight Team Galactic in order to get to Dawn." Anabel said.

"That's the gist of it." Ash said.

"All right, then. We should go to my house and rest up first. It's in Veilstone City, just like the Galactic Base, so it's pretty convenient." Paul said. Everyone agreed and released their Flying-Types. Before long, they were on the way to Veilstone City.

**OK… somehow I think it could have been better. Anyway, please review!**


	9. Aura Guardians Arc: Rescue

**I decided to update today, since I really didn't have anything better to do. Anyway, the rescue will be quick and simple-or so all of you may think.**

When Paul knocked on the door to his house that night, along with the rest of the party behind him, he didn't react physically when Reggie swung the door open and gave him a huge hug. However, he did react vocally.

"Big Brother, please. This is humiliating." Paul muttered. But it was a little too late as the entire group burst out laughing.

"Come on, we're brothers. We're supposed to care about each other. Besides, you've been gone for six years." Reggie said.

"I'll explain later. You've done what I asked, right?" Paul asked.

"Yep. In fact, I prepared enough dinner for twenty people!" Reggie said. Paul's mouth dropped right open, and Reggie grinned. "What? I like to prepare for more than the expected company, especially considering Ash's appetite."

"Wait, what? How did you know that Ash was coming? I never told you." Paul said.

"Paul, it doesn't take a genius to realize that if you were back, Ash was as well. The two of you are the greatest of rivals, and you would probably travel in the same direction." Reggie said. Then he peeked out past Paul's white Aura Guardian fedora. When he saw the others, he grinned again. "And it looks like I was right. Hello, Ash, Brock, Anabel." Ash and Brock nodded, while Anabel waved.

"Wait, how… oh, right, you battled her." Paul said. Seeing the confused looks on a few of his friends' faces, he explained. "Reggie took on the Kanto Battle Frontier, but lost to Brandon."

"So who are the others?" Reggie asked.

"They're mostly Ash's former traveling companions. The orange-haired girl is Misty. The brunette is May, and the green-haired guy next to her is Drew. The little boy is Max, May's little brother. The guy in the green Aura Guardian outfit is Leon, who trained alongside Ash and I on Mt. Silver. Finally, the blond-haired girl is Sarah, Leon's childhood friend and a substitute Frontier Brain for Anabel." Paul introduced.

"All right, come in, everyone. As a matter of fact, we can talk over dinner." Reggie said.

_Later…_

"So that's what you're here for?" Reggie asked.

"Yeah. We're here to save Dawn. The only reason that we're here is to rest up for the night." Paul said.

"Well, then you're lucky that we have a lot of room." Reggie said.

"Very well, then. Everyone, get a good night's sleep. You'll need it." Ash commanded.

_The next day…_

The entire party was standing in front of the Galactic Building. Ash looked behind at his forces. Anabel, his lover. Paul, his rival-turned ally. Leon, a powerful yet sensible friend. Sarah, a strong and kind trainer. Brock, one of his best friends. Misty, another one of his best friends. May, a ditzy yet compatible girl. Drew, with a large ego but knew right from wrong. Max, a promising young trainer.

"Hey, Ash. Are you going to stare at us or are we going to get briefed?" Paul asked.

"Sorry. Leon, how many plans did you think up last night?" Ash asked.

"Mostly the basics. We could attack from above using our flying Pokémon to draw them into the open and pick them off one by one." Leon suggested.

"That's a little risky. The Team Galactic members could just take a hostage from the average public." Brock said.

"We could just bash a hole in the wall and break in from there." Leon said.

"We might attract too much attention with that plan." Max said.

"In that case, I have one more option. We could just walk in, take down all the guards, split up into teams, and try to find Dawn. When we do find her, we call the others and get out of there." Leon suggested.

"That could work, except we don't have any means to call each other." Anabel pointed out.

"I beg to differ. I asked Reggie for the new model Poketch. They have a built-in calling system, and he generously uploaded our individual numbers onto each Poketch. There are eleven of them, enough for each of us and one for Dawn." Leon said. He handed out the specified Poketches to their respective owners.

"We're good to go, then." Sarah said.

"Here are the teams. Anabel, Paul, Brock, and Misty, you're with me. Leon, Sarah, May, Drew, and Max, you're on the other team. Leon is going to lead you." Ash said. Everyone nodded.

"Let's go!" Misty shouted.

They ran into the Galactic Building. A receptionist looked up. "May I help-?" She was cut off when Paul fired a weak Aura Sphere at her to knock her unconscious.

"There are two staircases. My team, to the left. Ash's team, to the right." Leon said.

The party split up and moved to their respective staircases.

_With Leon's team…_

"This place is pretty big. Everyone, keep your guard up." Leon advised. They were walking through a particularly dark hallway. The darkness set basically everyone on edge.

"There they are! Houndour, Zubat, take them down!" It was a single Team Galactic Grunt, who released the two Pokémon that sprang at the group.

"Absol, Razor Wind!" Drew commanded, releasing his trusty Dark-Type. Absol stirred up some wind with its horn, wrapped the wind in energy, and fired a powerful attack. It had enough range to hit the Houndour and the Zubat, and enough power to knock them both out. The Galactic Grunt retreated.

"Well, that was easy." Drew said with a smirk.

"Toxicroak, Poison Jab!" they heard. A Toxicroak then jumped out from the darkness ahead and struck at the party with a fist of purple, poisonous energy.

"Lopunny, Dizzy Punch!" Sarah reacted, throwing a Poke Ball to release her Lopunny, who used her ears in a Dizzy Punch to counter the Poison Jab.

The Toxicroak fell back to land next to a tall, blue-haired man. "Impressive. It's been a while since I've seen that kind of power. I guess you really are a threat to the reborn Team Galactic."

"Who are you?" May asked.

The man stepped out of the shadows. Leon and Sarah's eyes widened in recognition. "That's…" Leon said.

"Galactic Commander Saturn!" Sarah finished.

_With Ash's team…_

Ash and his team were facing a threat as well, although it had more to do with sheer numbers than power. Galactic Grunts had surrounded them, although the team's Pokémon were more than enough to stop the Grunts' Pokémon.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded. Pikachu fired a lightning bolt at a group of enemy Houndour, defeating them.

"_Espeon, Psychic!_" Anabel commanded telepathically. Espeon's eyes glowed red, and it quickly managed to defeat a group of enemy Zubat.

"Torterra, Stone Edge!" Paul yelled. Torterra summoned a volley of sharp stones to strike down a group of enemy Murkrow.

"Crobat, Whirlwind!" Brock ordered. Crobat used its extremely strong wings to stir up winds with enough power to overwhelm a group of enemy Murkrow and blow them into a wall.

"Politoed, Water Gun!" Misty commanded. Politoed fired a forceful stream of water from its mouth, taking out a group of enemy Glameow.

"That's the last of them." Anabel said.

"Is that really what you think?" a female voice asked. The party turned to see a red-haired woman.

"Galactic Commander Mars!" Brock exclaimed.

Next to Mars was her trusty Purugly. "So, you've been able to defeat almost anything we've thrown at you. Too bad, because this is the end of the line. And there's no point in calling your friends for help. Saturn is taking care of them." Mars taunted.

"You're outnumbered, Mars. Give it up. There's five of us, and one of you. It will only take one of us to take you down." Misty said.

"Oh, really? Purugly, Slash!" Mars commanded. Purugly charged at surprising speeds with its claws unsheathed.

"Pikachu, Iron Tail!" Ash commanded. Pikachu turned its tail into hard steel and countered the Slash with Iron Tail. Unfortunately for Purugly, it was easily overpowered, and was flung back into a wall.

"What? Impossible!" Mars exclaimed with her eyes wide.

"Oh, relax. It's fine. That was just a warning." Ash said.

Mars growled and took out two more Poke Balls. "Bronzong, Golbat, go!" She then threw them, releasing the two Pokémon.

"So you plan to use all three of your Pokémon at once, eh? All right, then. Lapras, Pidgeot, I choose you!" Ash commanded. The two Pokémon also emerged.

"Wait, can Lapras battle on land?" Brock asked.

"Actually, yes. There are barely any really large bodies of water in Mt. Silver, so Ash had to train Lapras to battle on land as well, although, here, it should be easier." Paul explained.

"How?" Anabel asked, to which Paul only grinned.

"Lapras, Ice Beam on the floor! Pikachu, jump onto Pidgeot!" Ash commanded. Lapras turned most of the floor into smooth ice while Pikachu leapt onto Pidgeot's back.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to attack?" Mars taunted. "Bronzong, Psychic on that Lapras! Golbat, Air Cutter on Pidgeot! Purugly, Shadow Claw on Pikachu!" Bronzong started radiating energy that coalesced around Lapras, and then flung it into a wall. Golbat struck Pidgeot with a ball made of concentrated air. Purugly jumped and struck Pikachu with claws wrapped in dark energy, shaking it off Pidgeot and landing on the ground. Surprisingly, none of the Pokemon seemed visibly affected by the attacks.

"Lapras, Hydro Pump on Bronzong! Pidgeot, Double-Edge on Golbat! Pikachu, Thunderbolt on Purugly!" Ash commanded. Lapras slid on the ice with amazing speed and blasted Bronzong with a direct Hydro Pump. Pidgeot used its own speed to hit Golbat with a energy-blazing tackle. Pikachu then fired a powerful electric bolt to finish the battle. All of Mars's Pokémon were defeated.

"What?" Mars gasped in shock.

"It takes a lot more than you to defeat me. I suggest you retreat." Ash said, and Mars complied.

"Well, then. Shall we move on?" Ash asked. However, when he looked, Anabel, Brock, and Misty were wide-eyed. Paul, on the other hand, was laughing.

"It looks like everyone is speechless." Paul laughed.

"Guys, snap out of it, and let's go." Ash said. He then returned his Pokémon, except for Pikachu, who jumped back onto his shoulder. The others did the same after snapping out of their stupor, and they moved on through the hallway.

"Ash…" Anabel's voice whispered next to his ear. He turned to see his girlfriend next to him.

"What's up?" Ash asked in concern.

She smiled at him. "I just wanted to say that I'm very impressed with you. You're a lot stronger than you were the first time we met."

"Thanks. I have been training a lot, you know." Ash answered. Then he linked his hand with hers, causing her to look at them in surprise and him to smile.

"Hey, if you lovebirds are done, you'll notice that there's a door right in front of you." Paul said. There was indeed.

"It's password-locked." Brock pointed out, indicating an electronic number pad next to the door.

"In that case, let's do this the old-fashioned way. Paul, help me out." Ash suggested. Paul stepped up, and they began charging up energy in their palms. The only difference was that Ash's energy was blue, while Paul's energy was black and white.

"Aura Sword!" Ash yelled. He created a sword of blue aura.

"Aura Axe!" Paul yelled. He created an axe out of his dual-colored aura.

The two Aura-users used their weapons to smash a hole right through the door. "Wow. For a door made of stainless steel, that was kind of pathetic." Paul said with a sneer. Ash chuckled, and they dissipated their weapons.

"Are you guys Aura Guardians?" Brock asked.

"I only told you two days ago, but again, yeah." Ash replied.

"Then why don't you have Lucario?" Misty asked.

"Lucario are strong, but they are unnecessary." Paul answered. The party then stepped into the room… and was met with an army of Galactic Grunts.

"Again?" Anabel asked, a bit annoyed. She got her answer when one of the Galactic Grunts threw a chair at a window, breaking it. Then they all released their Golbat, choosing to fly away. Anabel shrugged. "Apparently not."

A muffled sound drew their attention to a locked cage in the back of the room. Inside, a blue haired girl was lying on her side, tied up and gagged.

"Dawn!" Paul shouted in recognition. He then called Leon's Poketch. "Leon, it's Paul. We've found Dawn. Get over here immediately."

"_You got it."_ came the answer.

"How long will it take you?" Paul asked.

"_Two seconds."_ came the answer.

Paul raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what?"

The wall then blew inwardly and a proud voice cried out, "The cavalry's here!" It was Leon and his party, with Leon's Machamp in front. Leon then grinned at the wide eyes of Ash's party. "See? What did I tell you? Nice entrance, huh?"

"Oh, look, all the Galactic Grunts are gone." May said disappointedly, looking around.

"You can say that again." Max said.

"Hey, they were the ones who ran away! It wasn't our fault!" Misty complained.

"Technically, it was all of our faults. If we hadn't made such a big impression, they wouldn't have been afraid and would have put up a better fight instead of running away like cowards." Drew said.

"Maybe, but I don't think they were running away. I think they were just retreating." Ash said.

"Really? What makes you say that?" Max asked.

"Have you guys noticed that the only prominent figures in Team Galactic we encountered were Mars and Saturn?" Ash asked.

"And assuming you beat Mars, they were both beaten easily. I mean, Leon took down Saturn with just Infernape." Sarah said.

"Team Galactic wasn't going easy, but they weren't giving it their all either. Where's Jupiter? Where's Charon? Where's Cyrus?" Paul asked.

"Exactly. I think Team Galactic just did this as a decoy. What were they planning? What were they hoping to accomplish by kidnapping Dawn?" Ash asked.

"Speaking of which, shouldn't we be getting her out now?" Brock asked.

"I got it. Machamp, return!" Leon commanded. He returned Machamp and took out another Poke Ball. "Drapion, cut that cage apart!" Drapion emerged with a roar and quickly charged over to the cage, easily ripping it apart with its powerful claws. Then it stood over Dawn, who looked up in fear at the imposing figure. At a command from Leon, it cut her binds and her gag.

"Nice work, Drapion. Return." Leon said.

"Ash! Brock! May!" Dawn cried.

"Hello, Dawn." Ash greeted. Pikachu jumped into Dawn's arms.

"Good thing for you that we showed up, or else you would have been stuck here for quite some time." Paul remarked.

Dawn immediately got aggressive. "What are you doing here, Paul?"

Paul chuckled. "Relax, I've changed since the last time you've seen me."

"He's right. Paul's still not exactly a really nice guy, but he treats his Pokémon fairly now. And he actually smiles." Ash said.

"Very funny." Paul muttered.

Dawn smiled. "Oh, good." Then she looked at everyone else. "Who are these?" Ash quickly made the same introductions that were done several times in the past two days. Honestly, it was beginning to get really annoying.

Dawn's smile faded. "By the way, I heard your conversation, and I have answers to some of your questions. When I was imprisoned, I heard a few things that Team Galactic Grunts talked about."

"Tell us after we get out of here. Where are your Pokémon?" Paul asked. Dawn pointed to a nearby shelf that stood right below the ceiling. Paul sighed and jumped up to a height that allowed him to get to the Poke Balls. He landed on his feet and calmly returned them to the openmouthed Dawn. "Don't ask." Paul warned.

"Let's head back to Dawn's place after we get out of here. Her mother's been crying pretty badly." Sarah suggested.

"You got it." Ash said. They stepped to the broken window. Ash then blasted it completely open with a powerful Aura Sphere, to the surprise of Dawn. "Pidgeot, Charizard, I choose you!" Ash commanded. The two Pokémon emerged.

"Honchkrow, stand by for battle!" Paul yelled. The dark bird rose.

"Staraptor, show them what we've got!' Leon commanded. The mighty bird emerged with a screech.

"Swellow, I'm counting on you!" Sarah cried. Swellow flew up next to Leon's Staraptor.

"Flygon, take the stage!" Drew yelled. The green dragon emerged.

"Dawn, do you have a Flying-Type?" Paul asked.

Dawn nodded and took out a Poke Ball. "Togekiss, let's go!" Togekiss took form and flew around gracefully, enjoying its freedom. Dawn grinned at the wide-eyed Paul.

"It's good to see Togekiss in top form, but let's go! Same arrangements as before!" Ash ordered. Everyone complied, and they flew out of the Galactic Building, unaware that they were being watched by a figure in the shadows.

"So, that's what he's grown into. It looks like this will be more fun than I thought." the figure hissed. Then he took out a cell phone and punched in a few numbers. "Giovanni, Maxie, Archie, Cyrus. It's time. I expect you all to do your parts."

**Who is this mysterious figure? How does he know about Ash? You won't find out until a bit later, but for now, you can see** **the plot is coming together, right?**

**Anyway, please review! **


	10. Verso Arc: Separate Ways For Now

**Since I can finally update this story again, I'll make up for my lack of updating. Here's the tenth chapter. **

When Johanna answered the door that night, the last thing she expected to see was the sheepish but smiling face of her daughter beaming at her. "Hi, Mom." Dawn greeted casually.

Johanna swept her daughter up in a hug, and then gratefully looked over Dawn's shoulder at the party. "Thank you." she mouthed. They nodded.

"Down to business. Dawn, can you tell us about what you heard and saw?" Ash asked.

"Sure. Come on in." Dawn said.

"Shall I make dinner for everyone?" Johanna asked.

"Sure, but I'm not that hungry, so forgive me if I don't eat much." Ash said.

"Ash not wanting to eat? There's a surprise." Dawn teased.

"We've changed a lot over the years, Dawn. No one knows that batter than me." Paul answered.

_Later…_

"I may have been bound and gagged, but that doesn't mean I couldn't listen. I overheard the Galactic Grunts discussing something about an alliance. They didn't really seem to like the idea of it, though." Dawn recalled.

"Were you able to find out who the alliance was between?" Anabel asked.

"Yeah. Apparently, Team Galactic has allied itself with Team Rocket. They also mentioned something about allying themselves with some other teams called Team Aqua and Team Magma." Dawn answered.

"What? There's no way! Team Rocket has always been out to stop the goals of the other crime teams. And an alliance between Team Magma and Team Aqua is unthinkable! They're just too different, with different goals that completely contradict one another!" Ash protested.

"Wow. That was the most complicated speech I have ever heard Ash say." Misty joked. Ash glared at her.

"If that's true, then there may be someone pulling the strings." Sarah speculated.

"There is. I heard from the Galactic Grunts that someone convinced the four leaders, Giovanni, Maxie, Archie, and Cyrus, to work together in exchange for land. Team Rocket would keep Kanto and the Orange Islands, Team Aqua would get Johto, Team Magma would get Hoenn, and Team Galactic would get Sinnoh." Dawn explained.

"Did you find out who it was?" Max asked.

Dawn shook her head. "But I did hear the immense fear in their voices when they spoke of him. I think that he's a lot more powerful than all the teams combined. How else could he have gotten four teams that hate each other to work together?"

This put Ash, Paul, and Leon into deep thought. They knew there were only six types of aura, and over the years, the three boys learned they meant. Red meant power, blue meant good, green meant protection, black and white meant balance, yellow meant loyalty, and purple meant evil. And right before they left the Galactic Building, they could all sense a faint yet unmistakably powerful purple aura. Whoever it belonged to was pure evil.

"Ash? Paul? Leon? Are you still with us?" Drew's voice brought them all back to reality. Everyone was staring at them.

"Sorry. I kind of spaced out a little. I think we all did." Leon said. Then he shook his head. "Anyway, what were you saying?"

"You were all staring off into space." May said.

"Is there something wrong?" Brock asked.

The three boys glanced knowingly at each other. Then Ash began speaking. "Well, before we left the Galactic Building, I felt a purple aura. A purple aura means…"

Paul finished. "…pure evil."

After seeing the weird looks that everyone else was giving them, Leon said, "Look, we're not kidding. Remember, we can feel aura and detect its colors. Ordinary Aura Guardians have equal chance of getting one out of all types except for purple. Dark Aura Guardians have that color, and they are pure evil and very rare, but very dangerous. If one is pulling the strings behind this alliance, then we might be in trouble."

This brought the listeners into a tense silence. After a few seconds, Ash broke it. "Sorry. Dark Aura Guardians are still very rare. The chances that the alliance was caused by one are remote."

"Good. You had us worried there for a minute." Drew said.

"In any case, you should rest up here for the night before going back home." Johanna offered.

"Thanks, but I'll turn that offer down." Paul said, standing up.

"Where are you going?" Brock asked.

"Where else? I'm going home. I'm not planning to go back to Kanto. Someone's going to have to make sure that Team Galactic won't take over Sinnoh. Besides, I know my way around the region." Paul said. Then he shouldered his pack and walked towards the door.

"Later, Paul." Leon said.

"Contact me if you want my help." Paul replied right before leaving.

Leon looked pensive. "Paul's got the right idea." he muttered.

The others faced him. "What are you talking about?" Ash asked.

Leon got up, leaned against a wall, and folded his arms. "I'm saying that if we want to protect Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, we're going to have to separate for a while." Leon said. He then looked at them. "I don't think I'll be going back to Kanto either. Someone's going to have to look after Johto. It's not that far away from Kanto, so I'll probably get there quickly if you need my help. First thing in the morning, I'm taking a boat to Johto."

"Leon… I'm going with you, then." Sarah said. He looked at her in surprise, then she smiled. "Johto was the first region that we traveled together. If you're going there, then I'm coming with you."

Leon smirked. "So be it. I know that mood of yours, and I don't think I can convince you otherwise."

"All right, it looks like your minds are made up." Ash sighed. "However, we're going to need people protecting Hoenn, Kanto and the Orange Islands. Brock, Misty, can you two go to the Orange Islands? I figured that with Misty's Water Pokémon and Brock's Ludicolo, you shouldn't have much trouble getting around."

"No problem." Brock answered.

"You can count on us!" Misty added.

"Max, May, Drew, can you look after Hoenn? With only Team Magma there, you should be able to protect it." Ash said.

"You got it." Drew said.

"Okay." May answered.

"Sure." Max replied.

"Anabel and I will look after Kanto." Ash said, with a glance at his girlfriend. Anabel blushed and nodded, while Leon grinned.

"Dawn, stay in Sinnoh and help Paul out." Ash said.

"All right." Dawn accepted.

"OK, we leave first thing in the morning. For now, we better get some sleep." Ash said. Pikachu yawned and jumped back onto Ash's shoulder as he walked upstairs to the guest rooms, everyone else following.

_The next morning…_

Ash and Anabel were riding on a ship to Vermillion City in Kanto. Once there, they would return to Ash's house to get Delia, Professor Oak, Gary, and Tracey updated on things, then Anabel would return to the Battle Tower and contact Scott asking him for a leave of absence for herself and Sarah, giving him the excuse, "To permanently stop Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua, and Team Galactic."

Leon and Sarah were on their way to Olivine City in Johto, moving around the region to probe for Team Aqua scouts. Then, the scouts would be attacked and defeated on sight.

May, Max, and Drew were headed to Slateport City in Hoenn, where May and Max would return to Petalburg City while Drew would head back to Verdanturf Town, getting their parents to give them permission to fight Team Magma.

Brock and Misty took a boat out to the Orange Islands after contacting their families, reassuring them of their safety and assisting in the purging of Team Rocket from the Orange Islands.

Paul and Dawn stayed behind in Sinnoh, where they would stop the efforts of Team Galactic until something big happened.

All teams were given specific orders from Ash to contact the others if something big came up. Then they chose the meeting spot: the Battle Tower in Kanto. With these orders, the four boats set out with Paul, Dawn, Reggie, and Johanna to see them off.

What was in store for the party, none could ever guess.

**OK, I had to end there, despite the fact that I rarely type chapters as short as this nowadays. Please review!**


	11. Verso Arc: Ash's Failure

**I'll make this as entertaining as possible. Hope you enjoy!**

"I really had a good time tonight, Ash," Anabel said, leaning on her boyfriend's shoulder. Ash smiled down at her.

"I really did my best, Anabel." he replied, wrapping his Aura Guardian's cape around her. He had decided to make his Aura Guardian outfit his permanent outfit, as did Anabel with the outfit that she wore when they rescued Dawn.

Next to them, Pikachu and Espeon were enjoying their own conversation. Although the restaurant they went to was quite fancy, the owners allowed their customers to bring out their Pokémon and eat as well as battle. Pikachu and Espeon actually liked each other with the same way their masters liked each other.

It had been a few months since the group had separated. Nowadays, the crime teams had not succeeded in any of their missions. This meant that all efforts to stop them had been successful. It wasn't just the party, though. The Gym Leaders, Elite Four, and Champion of each region also helped out. Together, they had been able to bring enough peace to the regions so that the couples within the group could start relaxing enough to go on dates like the one Ash and Anabel just had. In fact, Ash got word that Paul and Dawn were now dating as well. This didn't surprise him because he already knew that Paul had feelings for the blunette.

However, it was too good to last, as our favorite couple was about to find out as they walked back to Ash's house where Anabel was staying for a bit.

They were just outside the house. Pikachu had been laughing at something Espeon said when its ears perked up. It stopped in its tracks, sensing something. When Espeon noticed this, it stopped too, swiveling its head around and sensing the same thing. Being a Psychic Pokémon, Espeon could sense the dark force headed their way even more easily than its mate.

"Espi! Espeon espi espeon!" Espeon barked. Anabel snapped out of her reverie and looked at Espeon.

"What's up?" Ash asked.

"Espeon says that there's something evil coming our way." Anabel translated. Then she gasped. "In fact, I can feel it, too!"

This got Ash's attention, and since he was more alert, he could now feel a dark purple aura. This was much stronger than the aura he had felt in the Galactic Building, but it was still the same.

"Beautiful night, isn't it?" The humans and Pokémon turned to see a cloaked figure walking towards them. At the sight of him, Pikachu and Espeon immediately got defensive.

"That's it! That's the aura that I felt in the Galactic Building!" Ash cried.

"Oh? You could sense me? I thought that I had hid my presence completely, but it seems I was wrong." the figure said. His face was partially hidden by a purple Aura Guardian's fedora. In fact, he was wearing an outfit similar to Ash's, only his outfit was purple where Ash's was blue.

"You…are you a…" Ash stammered.

The man pulled his face out of the shadows and grinned. His eyes were red, and his face was unmistakably similar to Ash's! "You figured it out? Yes. I am one of the so-called rare Dark Aura Guardians. I was the one who orchestrated the alliance between the four crime teams."

"You bastard. You were the one who told Team Galactic to kidnap Dawn, weren't you?" Ash accused.

"That's right. I did it to test how strong you've become. I must admit, you definitely are your father's son. Strong but annoying." the Dark Aura Guardian said.

"Don't you dare mention my father! Aura Sword!" Ash yelled. Forming his blue sword, Ash charged at the Dark Aura Guardian.

"Ash! Be careful!" Anabel cried.

"How pathetic. Aura Mace!" The Aura Guardian formed a purple mace with spikes out of dark purple aura and flung it with amazing speed at Ash. Taken by surprise, Ash could barely block the blow, and the impact pushed him back. Gritting his teeth, Ash charged again.

The Dark Aura Guardian flung the mace, but this time Ash dodged it. However, the Dark Aura Guardian only grinned as the pulled his mace back, wrapping the dark chains around Ash. With a savage cry from the Dark Aura Guardian, the Aura Mace began squeezing Ash, and shocking him with dark aura energy.

Ash was screaming in pain, and his Aura Sword dissipated. "Ash, no!" Anabel shrieked. Then she turned to the Pokémon. "Pikachu, Thunderbolt! Espeon, Psybeam!" Pikachu hit the Dark Aura Guardian with a Thunderbolt, while Espeon struck with a Psybeam. However, even with the immense power, the Dark Aura Guardian did not drop the mace, although the attacks caused him to falter.

"What's going on out here?" Delia, hearing the commotion, opened the door. When she saw Ash hanging limp from the power of the Aura Mace, she screamed. "Ash, no!"

The Dark Aura Guardian looked at her as she looked back at him. Delia's face showed shock and fear, but the Dark Aura Guardian's face showed pleasure. "Hello, Delia. It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"V-verso! Let my son go!" Delia demanded.

"With pleasure." The man called Verso dropped the Aura Mace, letting Ash drop to the ground. Anabel, Espeon, and Pikachu ran to his side.

"Ash! Are you alright?" Anabel cried.

Verso smirked. "He's fine. That was just a taste of my power. A mere warning, really. He will heal soon enough. Just don't get in my way, or I will kill him, you and your entire group." Then he licked his lips. "I must admit, though. He really is Liam's son. So resilient. Still, he doesn't stand a chance against me." Then he walked off, vanishing into the shadows.

Ash came to. "Ugh, what happened?" he asked.

Anabel shook her head as Delia ran up to them. "He beat you so easily it was as if you were a bothersome fly." Then she looked up at Delia. "Mrs. Ketchum…it seemed like you knew who he was."

Delia nodded. "His name is Verso. He…" Then Ash cut her off.

"Wait. Call the others…they need to hear about this." Ash said. Then he slowly got up, letting Anabel and Delia support him into the house. Pikachu and Espeon followed.

_The next day…_

Delia answered the door to reveal Paul and Dawn. Paul tipped his Aura Guardian's fedora to her. "Good evening, Mrs. Ketchum. This is Dawn." Dawn bowed and Mrs. Ketchum nodded.

"You're the last ones to arrive." she chided.

"Hey, cut us some slack. We came here on such short notice. Besides, Sinnoh is the farthest away." Paul defended. Delia let them in. Inside, Ash, Anabel, May, Drew, Max, Leon, Sarah, Brock and Misty were sitting in the living room. They greeted the newcomers wordlessly. All of them were solemn. All they knew was that Ash had been beaten easily by a Dark Aura Guardian and that Delia somehow knew him. Now they were just waiting for an explanation.

Paul and Dawn pulled up chairs next to Leon and Sarah as Ash began speaking. "So you all showed up. Thanks for coming on such short notice."

"Skip the formalities, Ash. We all know why we're here." Drew said, looking at Delia.

Delia sighed. "I guess I should tell you. That Dark Aura Guardian's name is Verso. He was…Liam's older brother."

"Who _is_ Liam?" Anabel asked.

"Liam is Ash's father." At the name of her husband, Delia began crying, then blew her nose.

"Then that means that…" May gasped.

"Ash got his butt kicked by his own uncle!" Leon finished.

"I have an evil uncle and you never told me?" Ash yelled.

"I didn't know Verso was evil. He had always been rather mean, but I never thought that he could be evil. Verso used to be cold and withdrawn, but he actually did support Liam and my relationship. However, when Liam and I got married and were on our honeymoon, Verso disappeared. I haven't seen him since. Liam and I always assumed that he died."

"Wait. Could Dad's disappearance have something to do with Verso?" Ash asked.

"Perhaps. After all, your father was also a very skilled Aura Guardian." Delia said.

"Wait, what? How do you know that he was an Aura Guardian?" Leon asked.

"Because, I, too, am capable sensing and using aura to a certain extent." Delia replied.

This caused everyone's mouths to drop wide open. "You…what?" Brock asked.

Delia held out a finger and fired a thin beam of yellow aura at a mouse. It was killed instantly. Leon grinned and sent out his Luxray. Seeing the dead mouse, Luxray's eyes lit up and it quickly ate the mouse, causing most people except for Delia, Paul, Leon, and Ash to sweatdrop.

"I can't concentrate my aura into a weapon, but I am capable of using Aura Sphere, and my yellow aura can be used to heal people. Liam was much stronger. His red aura represents power, as you should know. He could also concentrate his aura into Aura Daggers. We were both students at Cameron Palace's aura teachings. They don't do it anymore, though it really helped us with aura. Liam and Verso were the most skilled, while I was somewhere around eighth place out of twenty-five students. I don't know why Verso attacked us just now, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with Liam as well as warn us to stay out of his way." Delia explained.

"So, we're up against a Dark Aura Guardian. Ash, how strong was he?" Brock asked.

"Very strong. I know that Dark Aura Guardians are stronger than the average Aura Guardian, but he completely overwhelmed me. His Aura Mace was so fast, I got taken by surprise. If I stay at the level that I'm at, there's no way that I can win." Ash said. This took the others by surprise. Ash never admitted that he was beaten. He never gave up, even if the odds were stacked against him.

Dawn attempted to cheer him up. "Yeah, but remember, there are three Aura Guardians in this room. You, Paul, and Leon. It won't be easy, but if you pool your powers, then you might be able to beat him." Dawn said.

Ash merely hung his head. This did not go unnoticed by Leon, Paul, or Anabel, and it was Leon who took action.

"Ash…tell us, are you scared?" Leon asked. Ash's head shot up in surprise.

"Of course not! Why would I be scared of him?" Ash denied.

"It's only natural that you would be scared. This Dark Aura Guardian's power surpasses us all." Misty said.

"I am not scared!" Ash yelled.

"Don't try to hide behind your feelings. I can still feel them." Anabel said.

It was true. Ash was scared, and now all of them knew it. There was no point in denying it.

Paul frowned, deep in thought. He had only one way to fix this. "Ash…battle me." Paul challenged.

"What? You mean a Pokémon battle?" Max asked.

"No. A battle of Aura. My Aura Axe against your Aura Sword. I'll show you who's the superior one." Paul continued.

"Paul, this isn't the time…" Ash began, but Paul cut him off.

"Shut up! Unless you're afraid of fighting another Aura Guardian. Did the battle with the Dark Aura Guardian show you how weak you really are? If you're that pathetic, then maybe I should take over. You don't deserve to be leader after your humiliating defeat." Paul taunted.

"Paul, how could you…" Dawn started in anger, but Leon held her back with a hand on her shoulder. She looked back him in anger, but the Green Aura Guardian shook his head.

"This may turn out to be for the best." Sarah whispered. Hearing this, Dawn nodded and stepped back.

Ash hid his eyes with his hat. Then he shook himself. This was no time to be afraid. He glared back at Paul with some of his resolve regained. "All right, Paul. If that's what you want, then so be it. Let's take this outside."

Paul only grinned.

_Later…_

On the field outside, Paul and Ash faced each other, aura weapons at the ready. The rest of the party, including Delia, looked on. "Hey, Leon. You think this is going to get intense?" Max asked.

"Yeah. I've only done practice battles with those two, but even they are pretty intense. All of us had an equal chance of winning. Now, though, I don't think they're going to hold back. This time, they're going to fight each other like pure enemies." Leon said.

"So there's a risk of one of them being killed?" Brock asked.

"No, they won't strike any killing blows. However, they will fight with all strength." Leon replied.

A clang of weapons signaled the beginning. Paul had attacked Ash savagely, and was pushing him back. Paul sneered. "This is all you've got? How disgusting."

Ash swung viciously, and Paul dodged. "Shut up, Paul!"

Paul grinned and attacked from above. "Admit it, Ash! You're so afraid of Aura Battles after you got your butt kicked by that Dark Aura Guardian that you can't even fight at full strength! You can barely compete with me in this state, much less him! Use your full strength! Don't hold back!" Paul got a blow in and caused a flesh wound on Ash.

"Fine, I'm scared! But still, my fear wasn't for me! It was because I couldn't protect Anabel! How can I save five regions if I can't even protect one girl and two Pokemon?" Ash asked in despair. Anabel looked up in surprise.

"Exactly why you shouldn't be afraid! You cannot let a sense of doubt shake your mind. Once you lose focus, it's over! You've lost!" Paul's attack shook the ground. "You'll never beat me in this state!" Then Paul grinned savagely. He held up his hand and began charging up a full-powered genuine Aura Sphere. While it looked like he was aiming at Ash, at the last moment, Paul aimed the Aura Sphere at the group and fired.

"Paul! What are you…?" Brock started, but he shut up when the saw that the Aura Sphere was coming closer by the minute.

"Scatter, everyone!" Leon commanded. No one needed to be told twice. They scattered in different directions, but the black and white Aura Sphere was hurtling straight for none other than Anabel.

When Anabel saw this, she screamed. This caught Ash's attention, and he sprang with top speed. He knew that he probably wouldn't make it, but against all odds, he did. Right before the Aura Sphere struck Anabel, Ash got in front of her and barely had enough time to deflect it with his sword. After that, he glared at Paul.

"So, Ash. You've regained your resolve." Paul murmured. He barely had enough time to block Ash's attack, when Ash moved at amazing speeds and swung his sword at Paul. When Paul blocked it, he was taken completely by surprise. The impact from Ash's attack sent him flying.

By now, the group had reformed, and May was comforting Anabel while Sarah was asking Leon some questions. "Leon… why would Paul attack Anabel like that? If Ash hadn't gotten there in time, she would have died!"

Leon shook his head. "Anabel wouldn't have been killed, just injured. That was nothing more than a trick that Paul used to regain Ash's resolve to protect Anabel. When he saw her in danger, his instincts returned, putting himself in the way to protect her. I would do the same, since my green aura represents protection, but Ash has a kind heart. He wants to do all he can to stop all evil." Leon looked at the battle, where Ash was completely overpowering Paul. This caused Leon to furrow his eyebrows. "Still…there's no way that he could be overpowering Paul like this, even with full resolve."

Pikachu sensed a deep and ferocious anger within Ash, as did Anabel. "Leon, Ash has anger coming off in waves! It's radiating off his body!"

Hearing this, Leon paled and he ran towards the battle, where Ash had cornered Paul completely, and even though Paul was down, Ash was charging up an Aura Sphere.

"Aura Spear!" Leon commanded. His green spear of aura took form, and he used the tip to beat away the Aura Sphere. Then he ran towards Paul and helped him up.

"Paul! Ash isn't himself!" Leon said.

"Yeah, I noticed." Paul muttered. "We have to make sure the others are safe." Leon nodded and they sped back to the confused spectators.

"Everyone, leave!" Paul commanded.

"What? What's wrong with Ash?" May asked.

"Only Paul and I can subdue him in this state." Leon explained. A blaze of energy caught their attention, and they saw Ash racing towards them. Their eyes were what caused their attention. They were now black instead of white.

"Go!" Paul repeated, right when Ash attacked with his Aura Sword. Paul was flung right back. Leon thrust with his Aura Spear, stabbing Ash in the arm, but this only made him angrier, and with amazing speed, Ash slashed a major wound down Leon's right side. Blood poured right out, and though no body parts were cut off, Leon fell facedown to the ground, forming a pool of blood.

Sarah screamed. Pikachu repeated Leon's commands, and Anabel quickly translated. This time, there was no hesitation from the party as Paul retaliated, charging in with his Aura Axe. Unfortunately, Ash expected this and dodged the blow, then making an underhand blow to Paul's abdomen, slashing from one side to another. It struck deeply enough for blood to spill, but it didn't hit any of Paul's internal organs. Still, with that blow, Paul went down as well.

"PAUL! LEON!" Dawn screamed. Then everyone started panicking when Ash turned his attention to the party and charged, ready to kill them all…until Anabel blocked his way. Ash stopped in his tracks.

"Ash…stop, please!" Anabel begged. Ash seemed to be struggling. The hand that was holding his sword was shaking. Then Anabel looked into his evil eyes, leaned up and kissed him. Now, Ash dropped his sword, and before it hit the ground, it dissipated. Ash closed his surprised eyes and leaned into the kiss. When they pulled away, Ash's eyes reopened, and they were normal again.

"What…happened?" Ash asked. Then he caught sight of his shocked friends. "What's wrong?" His aura sense extended, and he felt Leon and Paul's faint but nearby aura behind him. Turning around, he saw the unconscious and bloody forms of his friends. "No…did I…?"

Anabel shook her head. "No, it wasn't you. You weren't yourself."

"No! I did this! I put you in danger! I'm a freaking monster!" Ash lamented, putting his head in his hands. It was at that moment that a tall red-clad figure appeared behind Ash. With one blow to the neck, he knocked Ash out.

"Ash!" Delia cried. Then she glared at the figure. "What did you…?" she started, until she caught sight of his face.

"Delia. Heal them." the figure said in a calm voice, gesturing to Paul and Leon. "I'll take care of Ash."

"Hey! Who are you to…" Drew started, but was surprised when Delia walked over to Paul and Leon's bodies and began healing them with yellow aura. Meanwhile, the figure put a hand to Ash's head. The hand blazed with red energy for a few moments, then stopped.

Paul and Leon, already healed, ran up to their fallen leader. "Is he all right?" Leon asked.

"He'll be fine. I dispelled Verso's control over him and made it so that it would be much harder for him to control another time." the red-clad figure said. Then he stood up, and the party immediately saw that his red clothes were that of an Aura Guardian's.

"OK, that's it! Who are you? How do you know Ash's, Mrs. Ketchum's, and Verso's names?" Max demanded. His question was completely ignored when Delia came back up and faced the red-clad Aura Guardian.

"My dear Delia…your healing skills have not diminished over the past years." The Guardian complimented.

"I always was the best healer in the class. You think that my skills would have changed? I have been secretly practicing all these years, Liam." Delia answered

Leon's eyes widened. "Liam? But that means that you're…"

The man called Liam grinned, and everyone could see his face clearly now. It was unmistakably a more mature version of Ash's. They now had no doubt in their minds of who he was, even if they hadn't known his name, his connection to Ash and Delia was crystal clear.

"That's right. I am Liam Ketchum. Husband of Delia Ketchum, and…Ash's father."

**I wonder how many hits I'm going to get for this one. Anyway, please review.**


	12. Verso Arc: Verso's Power

**Do I really have to do author notes every time I update? Seriously, I have a code of justice, which compels me to give author notes, but still. Anyway, you'll find out about Ash's dad here. You'll also find out more about Verso's plot.**

"Ugh… damn, whoever knocked me out was really strong." Ash muttered as he stirred. Anabel, who was staying at his bedside, quickly called the others by method of a simple yell. They were at his bedside within two minutes, all with worried faces. "Hey, guys. How long was I out?"

"A few hours. Aura Banishment took a mental toll on you, and it caused you to stay unconscious for longer than a simple knockout blow." Leon explained.

"Aura Banishment? What's that?" Ash asked.

"Aura Banishment is a technique that rids the target's mind of any control over it. It also makes it so that the force that controlled the target's mind will find it much more difficult to control it again." An unfamiliar to Ash said this. He looked up to see the tall figure of his father standing behind Delia. Of course, Ash didn't know that the Red Aura Guardian was actually his father in the first place.

"It's a secret and powerful technique even the best of Aura Guardians took years to master. None of us ever heard about it until _he_ told us about it." Paul said, gesturing to Liam.

Ash sat up and looked at Liam. "Okay, who are you? You know about techniques that Paul, Leon, and I have never heard of, and you're obviously an Aura Guardian with…red…aura…" Ash trailed off as the words he spoke coupled with a clear view of Liam's face revealed Liam's identity to him. "You're…Liam, aren't you?"

Liam nodded. "Hello, son." He walked up to Ash and hugged him. Ash felt a rush of anger and pushed Liam away.

"Get away from me." he said. He then ran past everyone and out of the house, away from his friends, away from the house, away from the man that Ash knew to be his father, yet Ash was very mad at him for leaving Ash and Delia alone for all the years. Pikachu quickly followed Ash, using his speed to catch up to his master and best friend.

Ash ran up to the hill where he and Anabel met the night before they rescued Dawn. He also liked this particular hill because it provided an excellent view of Pallet Town. From up here, Ash truly felt like Pallet Town's protector, as if he wasn't already.

"Pikapi." Pikachu said as he walked up to his master.

"I can't seem to forgive him, Pikachu. He's left Mom and I for so long. I have no memories of him. Now he comes back and I'm supposed to forgive him? Forget it." Ash said.

"That's what they all say." Ash looked up to see Leon coming towards him. "What's up, Ash? You don't normally go through emotional crises like this."

"You, of all people, should know why. You lost your parents at an early age due to their jobs. How would you react if they suddenly came back into your life without any contact with you for years?" Ash asked.

"I would be pissed at them, and probably say that Sarah's family was more my family than them. Then, if they came begging forgiveness, I would yell at them some more and make them promise never to leave me again. However, I'm pretty sure they're dead by now, and I don't give a crap about them anymore." Leon said.

"Exactly." Ash said.

"Yeah, but they never showed any caring for me. Your dad, on the other hand, cares a lot about you. You probably don't remember, but your dad told me that he was the one to introduce you to Pokémon in the first place. Your mom vouched for him. This is probably an exaggeration by all counts, but your dad said that if it hadn't been for him, you might have started out your journey like May apparently did. Completely scared of and unwilling to trust Pokémon. That would be pretty pathetic." Leon explained.

"He's got a point there." Paul showed up behind Ash. "I don't think anyone can imagine Ash scared of Pokémon. Besides, Ash's dad said that he has a really awesome Pokémon team."

"Really? What does he have?" Ash asked.

"Why don't you come back to the house and find out for yourself?" Paul answered. "Your dad wants to explain why he disappeared in the first place. He didn't tell us yet, so I'm pretty interested in the reason." Leon and Pikachu nodded in agreement.

"Fine. I might as well give him a chance." Ash said. He walked back with his comrades.

_Later…_

"So the great hero finally decides to show up." Drew said snidely when the four of them finally walked into the living room. The rest of the group, including Delia and Liam, were already gathered.

"Be nice, Drew." May scolded.

"I can't blame him. He did run out on me." Liam said.

"Sorry, dad." Ash said sheepishly. Then he grew serious. "Anyway, dad, I hear you have an awesome Pokémon team. Can you show me?"

"Later. I'll explain first. Why don't you guys take a seat?" Liam said. Ash, Paul, and Leon took seats next to Anabel, Dawn, and Sarah respectively. To the amusement of Liam, Anabel leaned her head on Ash's shoulder. He whistled. "So, you're going out with Salon Maiden Anabel? Typical."

"You know her?" Ash asked.

"I know of her." Liam answered.

"Stop with the short answers and just explain already." Max said impatiently.

"Patience, young man." Liam said, and Max started fuming as he spoke again. "Anyway, here's how it all happened. I set off on another journey to train, but eventually it turned into a mission to stop Verso after he turned into a Dark Aura Guardian."

"So why did you break contact with us?" Delia asked.

"I knew that Verso would eventually come after you guys. In this state, even though his love for me as a brother had disappeared, he retained his memories. I realized that I had to draw his attention away from you guys. So, I decided to disappear. I fought Verso every time we met. A purple Aura Mace against red Aura Daggers. Evil against power. Unfortunately, in our last battle, I lost, and then he brought the four crime syndicates together, I knew that it wouldn't be long before he attacked you. So, after healing naturally, I made my way back to Kanto in secrecy, just in time to stop you from killing your friends, my son." Liam explained.

"So, all this time…" Sarah said.

"I just wanted to protect those close to me, those whom I loved." Liam said. Then he looked at Ash. "My dear wife has already forgiven me, son. Can you do the same?"

Ash looked at his dad, then around at his friends, then back at his dad. In all aspects, he really was a lot like his father, but the trait they shared most was the need to protect those close to them. "I'll give you one more chance. If you leave Mom and I again without our knowing, I'll kill you with my own hands when I find you."

The others stiffened, but Liam sighed. "And I would let you." Then he stood up. "Anyway, I believe that you wanted to see my Pokémon?" Everyone nodded eagerly. "Then so be it. Ash, let's take this outside. Bring all your Pokémon with you." Ash complied, patting the Poke Balls on his belt, and followed his father outside.

By now, it was dusk, going into night. Ash followed his father to their very large backyard. "Stay there." Liam said, when Ash had just arrived. Ash and the others stood confused as Liam walked to the other side of the backyard. When he got there, he grinned at Ash. "Ash, you said you wanted to see my Pokémon? Well, I want to see yours. And the best way to do that…"

Ash realized it before Liam even said it. "…a Pokémon battle." Ash finished.

"You really are a lot like me, and you hit the nail on the head." Liam complimented. Then he took out a Poke Ball. "Skarmory, show them your power!" The sword-winged bird flew out, screeching.

"Alright, then. Lapras, I choose you!" The blue plesiosaur emerged, calling proudly.

"A Steel-and-Flying against an Ice-and-Water Type. This should be interesting."  
Brock said.

"Why don't you take the first move, son?" Liam offered.

"Lapras, Ice Beam on the ground!" Ash commanded. Using the same strategy as in the Galactic Base, Lapras froze the ground with Ice Beam.

"An unusual move. Skarmory, Flash Cannon!" Liam yelled. Skarmory charged up gray energy and fired a powerful beam. Lapras instinctively slid from its path with amazing speed.

"Lapras can move a lot faster on the ice." Dawn said.

"Skarmory, Air Slash!" Liam commanded. Skarmory gathered up a ball of energy in its wings and fired it.

"Lapras, Water Pulse!" Ash yelled. With amazing maneuverability, Lapras used all four flippers to turn around and fired a burst of water to counter the energy. "Now, Ice Beam!" Lapras fired beams of thin icy energy from its mouth, scoring a direct hit on the Steel-and-Flying Type.

"It's not over! Skarmory, Night Slash!" Liam commanded. Skarmory flew in close, and although the Ice Beam left an obvious wound, it ignored the pain in its abdomen and slashed Lapras with one of its dark wings.

"Now, Lapras! Hydro Pump!" Ash commanded. Lapras was able to recover from the damage and fired a forceful blast of water from its mouth. Skarmory was able to dodge part of it, but the force of the water caught it by one wing. Somehow that was a lot more painful for Skarmory as it crashed onto the ice. Unfortunately, the force from firing the Hydro Pump pushed Lapras back, and it didn't realize it was about to crash into a frozen rock behind until it actually crashed into the rock.

"Both their energy levels are running low. The next move should decide the battle." Anabel said.

Suddenly, a Hyper Beam from the dark sky above hit both Skarmory and Lapras, making them faint. "What the…?" Ash exclaimed, looking at the night sky, trying to find who fired the Hyper Beam.

"Oh, no. I know that Hyper Beam!" Liam exclaimed, looking up as well.

"A very impressive observance, little brother." A Salamance with a figure riding on its back flew down from the sky.

"Verso!" Liam yelled.

"That's Verso?" Sarah asked.

"Wow, he really does look like Ash." Misty said.

"What are you doing here, Verso?" Ash demanded.

"I felt my control over you fade, and then when I tried again, I was repelled easily. Once I realized that it was Aura Banishment, well, there was only one Aura Guardian that could use this technique as easily as I could. So, I decided to come back here, and it looks like I was right." He sneered at Liam and commanded his Salamance to fly lower. "I must admit, though, you healed faster than I expected from our last battle. It was only last week. Did your precious Delia heal what wounds that couldn't heal on their own?"

"Now, Staraptor! Brave Bird!" Leon roared. Verso looked up in surprise to see Leon's Staraptor barreling into Salamance's side with blue energy blazing around him. Verso dropped off of Salamance's back as it fell, returning it to its Poke Ball before it crashed to the ground.

"I figured that you might come back, Verso, so I positioned Staraptor on the roof as a precaution and a guard. Looks like it paid off. There is a reason that I'm the tactician of the group." Leon explained to the shocked yet impressed spectators. Sarah beamed up at her boyfriend.

"You'll pay for that, puny Aura Guardian." Verso said, still grinning, albeit rather insanely.

"No. You'll pay for all you've done, Verso! Staraptor, return!" Leon yelled, returning his injured bird to his Poke Ball. "Verso, when I'm done with you, you'll be nothing more than a bad dream. Aura Spear!"

"No, wait!" Sarah cried, but it was too late. Forming his green spear in his hands, Leon charged at the Dark Aura Guardian.

"Aura Axe!" Paul commanded. He formed his black-and-white axe and raced after his friend, in case his attack failed.

"Aura Mace!" Verso commanded. He was about to swing his purple mace at the charging boys, but was held back by a red Aura Dagger hitting his mace's chain, keeping his mace down.

"I'm not going to let you hurt anyone here, big brother." Liam said, holding his second Aura Dagger in his right hand. Leon thrust his spear into Verso's chest, while Paul slashed his axe across Verso's abdomen.

Blood spewed out, and Verso fell to the ground. May, who had been covering Max's eyes, finally let her little brother's eyes go.

"They did it!" Dawn squealed.

"It's over!" Sarah cheered.

Ash, however, had uneasy thoughts. What was this foreboding that his body was feeling? An insane laugh from Anabel caught his attention. When he looked at his girlfriend, she was giggling like a madman, and her eyes were, to his shock, in the same way that his eyes were in!

"No…Anabel?" Ash asked.

She shook her head. "No…I am Verso. How are you going to defeat me when I'm in your precious girlfriend's body?"

"How did…when…?" Leon asked, unable to form words.

"Why don't you ask Liam? The last time we met was in the ancient city of Pokelantis. He had no idea what I was doing there. He only tried to stop me." Verso in Anabel's body looked at Liam. "I'll tell you now. I was draining the powers of the evil spirit of Pokelantis. In exchange, I would allow his mind to experience the relish of destroying the boy who so annoyingly defied and beat him so many years ago." He looked at Ash, who looked horrified. "That's right, Ash. That was you. And in taking his powers, I can not only control a person's mind, but I can control a person's body."

Liam sprang into action. While Verso was gloating, he had quietly inched towards him, and now he had went up behind Verso and wrapped his arms around Anabel's body. With a burst of Aura, he imprisoned Anabel's body in a cage of Aura, with his arms acting as supports.

"Boys! You have to use Aura Banishment, now!" Liam commanded.

"What? How? I thought that it could only work with mind control!" Paul said.

"If you amplify it, it will work with this condition as well! Put your hands on her chest and her head, concentrate your Aura, then will with all your might for the control to be banished! Hurry up! It won't hurt her!" Liam ordered.

Paul and Leon, without hesitation, both put one hand and another hand on Anabel's head and chest. When they concentrated and willed with all their might, shadows were pushed out of Anabel's body, but they stuck firm.

"Ash! You have to help, too! It won't work if someone that truly loves her doesn't do it!" Liam said.

"No…I can't! What if I hurt her, like I almost did when I was that…that thing?" Ash asked.

"Ash! If she feels any pain, it will be from the control, and she will recover. You can't blame yourself for what Verso did!" Liam yelled. The Aura cage was beginning to weaken, and Verso in Anabel's body was turning to Liam, struggling to pull off an attack. Ash hung his head.

"Ash, please! Just do it! I'll be fine." Anabel in her normal voice spoke out, but it was soon screaming as Verso beat her down inside.

"Be quiet, foolish girl!" When Ash heard the scream, an immediate anger was soon felt.

"DAMN YOU, VERSO!" Ash roared. He sprang forward and added his might to the combined Aura Banishment. With this, the shadow that was Verso's spirit was fully pushed out, and all bits left inside were eradicated. Anabel's body fell to the ground. Ash caught it and picked it up bridal style. He saw, with relief, that she was sleeping.

Meanwhile, Verso's spirit flew back to his abandoned body. He got up, weakened due to the wounds his body had suffered and the fact that parts of his spirit had been destroyed. "You may have won this round, but it's not over yet. I will succeed in the end." And then he disappeared.

Ash gave Anabel to Leon and cried out, "Where are you, Verso? Get back here, you coward!"

"There's no point. When he does that, it's impossible to track or catch him. For now, we should recuperate." Liam said.

"I'll make dinner immediately." Delia said, walking inside.

Leon returned Anabel to Ash and walked in hand in hand with Sarah. Quietly, Anabel snuggled up to Ash's body, sighing. Ash's heart filled with love. _"I will protect you, Anabel."_ Then he carried her inside, calling out that he would skip dinner, much to the surprise of everyone, and carried his lover all the way upstairs, staying by her bedside until she woke up the next morning, just as she had done for him.

**What can I say or ask except for "please review?"**


	13. Verso Arc: Light and Dark

**Since this is the last day of Spring Break and the day before I have to start dealing with those idiots I call my classmates, I'll update this story before the stress of doing said activity gets to me and drives me insane.**

The day after Verso's attack, Anabel stirred in her bed a little before waking up. Pikachu, who was at the time keeping watch for his sleeping master, quickly caught this and woke Ash up. Ash, who normally slept very heavily, woke up instantly. He saw Anabel begin to wake up and looked on as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Good morning, Anabel. Are you alright?" Ash greeted with a smile.

"Good morning, Ash. Where am I?" Anabel asked.

"In my room. After Verso took control of you, Leon, Paul, and I had to use Aura Banishment to kick him out of your body. After that, Verso went back into his real body. I seriously don't know how Verso's real body could have survived an attack like that what Leon and Paul." Ash explained.

"Verso…he took control of me?" Anabel asked, her eyes wide.

"He took control of your body, but we were able to stop him before he could do any real damage. I carried you in. To be honest, I'm not sure how you survived. Were you fighting him?" Ash asked.

"Yes, but he completely overpowered me. I could only give you that message." Anabel answered.

Ash clenched his fists. "I'm sorry, Anabel. I couldn't protect you from either of Verso's attacks. I swore that I would protect those close to me, but I can't even seem to protect the girl whom I care about the most. Am I really that useless? Maybe Paul was right. Maybe I'm not fit to be leader. If I'm the leader of this group, then I should be able to protect you." Ash lamented.

"Pika…" Pikachu looked at him in sympathy. Anabel, on the other hand, did something completely out of character for her. She slapped her boyfriend in the face, and then glared at him.

"I won't allow you to beat yourself up like this." she said. "A leader of a group doesn't have to be someone who's the strongest, the smartest, or the greatest of the group. A leader is the one who cares about his or her teammates the most, and the one who has the most support from his or her teammates. I can tell you one thing, though. Not one person in the group objects to you being leader. They may have thoughts criticizing what you do, but none will truly go against you."

There was a listener behind the closed door, and that person decided to interrupt at this time. Ash and Anabel looked up to see Sarah. Her Lopunny was beside her. "Sarah…hey." Ash greeted.

The blond girl was also glaring at Ash. "I heard everything." Ash looked down in shame. "I don't know who I'm looking at right now. Are you really the Ash who led the assault on the Galactic building? Are you really the Ash who survived six years on Mt. Silver? Are you really the Ash who indirectly reunited Leon and I? Because all I see is a weakling. What happened to all your strength?"

Pikachu jumped up to defend his master. "Pika! Pika-pika, pikachu!" he yelled furiously. All it took was a ferocious glare from Lopunny and he shut up. Pikachu made a mental note to discuss with Leon's Infernape how scary his mate was.

"What Sarah means is…" A new voice that belonged to Dawn sounded out as the blunette stepped into the room. "You have to use the strength and power that you've always used. The fact that you care so much about us is what makes you the leader."

Leon and his Infernape came in as well. "Ash…I'm the one with the sense of justice. I know partially how you feel. Failing to protect someone after swearing to do so is definitely among the worst feelings in the world. Still, you can't beat yourself up like this. Even I don't do that. Instead of making yourself weak by beating yourself up, try asking for forgiveness of the one you think you failed." Then he looked at Anabel. "Then again, I think the one you failed to protect already forgives you."

"Wait, wait, wait. How the heck did this conversation get from me lamenting about being a leader to you guys all coming into my room and making things a lot more crowded than necessary trying to comfort me about my failures?" Ash asked. All listeners shrugged.

"In any case, you have to be the leader, Ash. By the way, Paul got his Weavile back sent it and his Honchkrow to follow Verso. I sent Staraptor as well. We should be hearing back from them by tonight at the latest." Leon reported.

"I see. And where is the grim bastard anyway?" Ash asked.

Just then, Ash's Poketch rang. It was Paul. "Hey, Ash. Your dad wants to talk to us at Professor Oak's lab. I guess he wanted to see your Pokémon and tell us about Verso's plans. Everyone who is currently not in the room with you and part of our group is already here, so hurry up. Also, DO NOT CALL ME A GRIM BASTARD!" he yelled. Leon laughed. "SHUT UP, LEON!" Then he hung up.

Sarah looked quizzically at Dawn. "Why are you romantically involved with him again?" she asked.

Dawn smiled. "The same reason you're romantically involved with Leon. We love them."

"Wow. So soon after you started going out and you can already say you love him?" Ash asked.

"I don't know. There's just something…" Dawn started.

Ash cut her off. "Never mind. Let's just go." He pulled Anabel gently up from the bed and walked off with his arm around her shoulders. Leon took Sarah's hand and led her away, Dawn, wishing that her boyfriend were here to treat her the same way, followed. The years at Mt. Silver really did well for Ash, Paul, and Leon's maturity.

_Later…_

"You got here a bit slower than I expected." Paul said as they walked up the stairs to Professor Oak's lab. The newcomers acknowledged him, but they ignored the comment. Paul smirked and took his place beside Dawn. Together, the six of them walked to the back, where Delia, Liam, May, Drew, Max, Misty, and Brock were waiting.

"I would like to begin, if you don't mind." Liam said. There were no objections. "Thank you. Now, if you guys recall, when Verso attacked yesterday, he said that the last time he and I met, we were in the ancient city of Pokelantis, and that I didn't know what he was up to. Both these statements are true. Now, however, I do know what he is up to. Does anyone here know about the Tree of Beginning?"

"Yeah. May, Ash, Brock, and I actually went there once. We met Sir Aaron's Lucario, Mew, and the three Regis." Max said.

Delia took the stage. "There's an old legend about the Tree of Beginning and the ancient city of Pokelantis. The Tree of Beginning is one of the few places that nature still has a full hold on. It's a haven, a utopia, a place where Pokémon can live peacefully, and an example of what happens when nature isn't disturbed. In other words, it's a place of pure good. Pokelantis, on the other hand, is a place that man has disturbed nature. It was a city that was ruled by an evil and selfish king. This might sound religious, but if you look at it in a certain way, it's as if nature itself sent Ho-oh to destroy it because nature was displeased with it. In other words, it's a place of pure evil."

"Verso's goal is simple, but the requirements are difficult to obtain. Verso wants to drain the positive energy of the Tree of Beginning and the negative energy of Pokelantis. By doing so, he can control the powers of both light and dark, making him nearly unstoppable. With the power of the light and the dark, Verso can manipulate even time and space to a limited extent, since the dark reigns the future and the unknown, an aspect of time and space respectively, and the light reigns over the past and the known, also aspects of time and space respectively. If he succeeds, he will take over the world." Liam explained this.

"You said that there were requirements. What are they?" Drew asked.

Liam looked at them sadly. "All it takes is one quality about yourself. You have to be an Aura Guardian that is directly descended from the Legendary Hero Sir Aaron. Unfortunately for us, Verso is a direct descendant of Sir Aaron."

"Wait. If Verso is a direct descendant, then that means you and Ash are direct descendants, too!" Everyone looked at Ash.

"No wonder Lucario sensed you and Sir Aaron had the same type of Aura!" May gasped.

"So, Ash being the descendant of Sir Aaron explains how he's a powerful Aura Guardian. How did Paul and I get our Aura powers, then?" Leon asked. Paul nodded.

"Green Aura and Black-and-White Aura are rare but powerful. Considering how strong you two are, I would say that Paul is descended from Sir Terra and Leon is descended from Sir Leo. Sir Terra was the wandering Aura Guardian who sealed away an evil Spiritomb with a Pikachu, while Sir Leo was a faithful companion to Sir Aaron." Liam said.

"Wait. If Verso wanted to take over the world, then why recruit all the crime teams?" May asked.

"Knowing him, he probably wanted to distract the official most powerful trainers. With them out of the way, he could quietly sneak into the Tree of Beginning virtually unopposed. There'd be a lot less of a threat." Liam replied.

"Liam, I think it's time we contacted Ilene." Delia said.

"Ilene?" Anabel asked.

"Lady Ilene of Cameran Palace." Liam confirmed. "And you're right, Delia. Ilene will definitely need to be told. That's why I asked Paul and Leon if I could borrow Staraptor, Honchkrow, and Weavile." Liam said.

"What the hell? You lied to us?" Paul exclaimed.

"No, I withheld parts of the truth. Technically, they were following Verso's actions, and due to a prediction that I made, I also made them send a message to Lady Ilene. Knowing her, she'll send them back with her reply tonight." Liam said.

"Then why did you need all three Pokémon?" Leon asked.

"Strength in numbers." Liam replied, prompting an annoyed groan from Paul and Leon.

Two screeches from above alerted the group to Staraptor and Honchkrow, who were returning. When they landed, Weavile jumped off Honchkrow's back and handed a piece of paper to Paul, who in turn grudgingly gave it to Liam.

Liam grinned. "Ah, excellent. They will be expecting us by tomorrow night. Typical. Ilene has always wanted things done quickly. So impatient."

Delia smiled. "Sweetheart, there's still enough time if we set out tomorrow morning."

Ash nodded. "Cameran Palace is only a short flight away. It's north of Mt. Silver. We should be able to get there by noon tomorrow at the latest if we fly as fast as we can."

"Then we should get our rest tonight." Drew suggested.

"So be it. We'll set out tomorrow." Ash said, his leadership role taken up once again. He walked off, Pikachu on his shoulder. As they followed, the group couldn't help but notice that he walked proudly, as he did before the attacks from Verso.

"My son…you really have become a leader." Liam murmured.

_The next day…_

After a short and uneventful flight, the group finally arrived at Cameran Palace. They were greeted by some guards who escorted them to the ballroom, which also happened to be the throne room.

"Announcing the arrival of our guests!" one guard announced when they walked in. On a throne sat a beautiful blond woman wearing a crown and a pink dress adorned with gems.

Liam and Delia walked up to the smiling woman. Liam was wearing his Red Aura Guardian's outfit, while Delia was wearing an elegant yellow dress. Liam kneeled and Delia curtsied. "My Lady Ilene." Liam greeted.

To the younger ones' surprise, Lady Ilene laughed with mirth. "There is no need to greet me with titles." She stood up and embraced Liam and Delia in turn. "The two of you have never needed to do that. We are, after all, family."

"WHAT?" Ash exclaimed. He ran up to Ilene, Delia, and Liam, and stuttered, "You…that means…I'm…"

Liam and Delia laughed. Delia put her hand on Ash's shoulder. "In reality, Ash, Ilene is Liam's younger sister. She's your aunt."

**Cliffhanger ending. Not exactly my style, but I had to end it somehow. Now, click the little button on around the bottom of the screen that says 'review this chapter' and send your thoughts.**


	14. Verso Arc: The Tournament, Part 1

**I know I left you in absolute shock after the last chapter, but everything will be explained in this chapter. Believe me, this chapter will definitely be worth reading, or at least I hope so.**

The faces that could be seen on the members of the party except Liam, Delia, and Ilene could be described as the most hilarious reaction possible in this situation. There was not a single member of the party who did not have their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide.

Leon was the first to regain his composure. "Why is it always Ash that gets the awesome relatives?" he complained. He received no answer, since the others were still in shock. "You have got to be kidding me." Leon groaned.

Sarah suddenly broke out of her reverie and grinned at Leon. "Actually, I snapped out of it before you did, and I just wanted to pretend that I was still dazed in order to spite you." she said. Leon groaned.

"Guys, come on. Snap out of it." Sarah commanded. At her order, everyone snapped out of his or her reveries.

Ash then looked at Liam, Delia, and Ilene. "Explanation, please?" he demanded.

Ilene smiled. "Still as stubborn as I remember." she laughed, earning an indignant look from Ash. "No matter. I'll explain. Before Sir Aaron left to sacrifice himself, he and Lady Rin, my ancestor, made love. When Lady Rin found out that she was with child, Sir Aaron had already sacrificed himself, leaving Ilene to care for the child on her own. When that child had grown up and had kids of his own, it was decreed that from now on, once the last child was born into the royal family, all of the children except for the youngest were to be sent to learn how to control aura and become Aura Guardians. The youngest, on the other hand, would learn how to rule over the people in the kingdom."

"Why?" Max asked.

Liam took up the explanation. "From the moment the youngest child is born, the older children always wish to protect their youngest sibling due to their vulnerability, no matter how annoying they are. In Sir Aaron's family line, that wish to protect is actually intensified, as Sir Aaron's blood allows them to use aura, which can be used to protect. However, in order to control their powers over aura, they had to be trained so they would be able to protect their youngest sibling, also known as the future Lord or Lady of the land. In my case, Verso and I were the oldest, and from the moment Ilene was born, we wanted to protect her, so we were sent to the school."

Then it was Delia's turn. "After Aura Guardians graduate from the school, they have two choices. They could stay behind and protect the castle, or they could wander, as long as they stayed close enough to be summoned and still arrive within a day. Liam and Verso, even though they wanted to protect Ilene, chose to travel, entrusting Ilene's safety to the other students. I went with Liam, and soon we returned and were married in this castle. At that time, Verso seemed to be rather aloof when we talked to him, but as I said, none of us had ever expected for Verso to become a Dark Aura Guardian."

Ilene started up again. "After Liam and Delia's wedding, we lost contact with Verso, and I thought he was dead. I voiced my concerns to my Liam and Delia, but they said that they hadn't heard from Verso, either. None of you would believe how devastated I was. Verso was my oldest brother, and even closer to me than Liam. When a Staraptor, Honchkrow, and Weavile came to me with Liam's note, at first, I couldn't believe that Verso was a Dark Aura Guardian. Then I read the part about what Verso was probably after, and I had no choice but to believe it." Now, Ilene looked down, and she started crying on Liam's shoulder.

"He was my brother, too, Ilene. He always stuck up for us. He always tried to protect us. Now, he's our enemy." Liam said. He wasn't crying, but one could easily hear the sadness in his voice.

"A little gloomy in here, don't you think?" Ash asked. Anabel, being an empath, nodded, understanding what he meant.

"Then how about we kick up the excitement with an activity well enjoyed by people everywhere?" Leon asked.

"Huh?" May asked, confused by the word sequence.

Leon grinned, removing a Poke Ball from his belt and tossing it slightly to catch it back and forth. "Do you really have to ask?"

The trainers in the room understood. Paul grinned. "A Pokémon battle? You know I'm always game for that." Anabel, Ash, Max, Drew, May, Brock, and Misty also agreed. Liam opted out, saying that he would battle the ultimate winner.

"If you wish, you may use the stadium." Ilene said with a smile.

"How are we going to do this? Tournament Organization, Team Battle, or Battle Royale?" Ash asked.

"Tournament Organization. It works perfectly. Besides, Team Battle isn't exactly that fun, and Battle Royale is too chaotic. I'll draw lots to see who battles who, and the loser gets eliminated." Liam said.

Just then, Ash's stomach growled. "Uh…can we eat first?" he asked sheepishly. Everyone laughed.

"Typical." Brock said.

_Later…_

After a delicious lunch that involved the participation of and sharing of techniques between Brock and the royal chefs, the entire group was gathered in the stadium. Liam was currently explaining the fundamentals to the participants. He held up a box. "In this box are little slips of paper with your names on them. In each battle, the winner will get his of her name back into the box, while the loser will get his or her slip torn up, thereby eliminating them from the competition. Does everyone have at least three Pokémon with him or her? Each battle will be a three-on-three battle."

Everyone nodded. During their separation to counter the crime teams' efforts, the ones that had less than six Pokémon had all captured new Pokémon to fill up the empty spaces, so each person could use a different combination each battle. "Excellent. Now, the first ones to battle will be…" He drew out two random slips. "…Brock and Max!"

"This will be interesting." Drew said. He took his seat, followed by the others except for Brock and Max, who went separate ways to walk to the two sides of the field; Brock on the left, Max on the right.

The judge raised his flags. "Begin!" he declared.

"Croagunk, let's go!" Brock commanded, releasing his creepy yet powerful frog. It emerged with a croak.

"Rapidash, go!" Max called. His flaming horse emerged. Being the faster one, Rapidash attacked first. "Rapidash, Flare Blitz!" Rapidash was enveloped in flames and it charged with amazing speed. Croagunk, taken by surprise, was unable to dodge, and it took a massive hit. Due to Flare Blitz's recoil effect, however, Rapidash also suffered rather significant damage.

"Flare Blitz, huh? He's definitely not wasting any time." Ash said.

"That recoil could cause problems later on, though." Paul speculated.

"Come on, Max, you can do it!" May called.

"Croagunk, Revenge!" Brock called. Croagunk got up and launched itself forward, hitting Rapidash with a powerful uppercut.

"Revenge…a good move in this situation. Rapidash is faster, so Revenge will always cause serious damage while Croagunk is still standing." Anabel said.

"Rapidash, Flamethrower!" Max commanded. Rapidash shot a powerful stream of flames from its mouth.

"Croagunk, dodge and use Gunk Shot!" Brock yelled. Croagunk leapt out of the Flamethrower's path and fired a huge blast of poison from its mouth. Rapidash took a strong hit.

"Gunk Shot is the most powerful Poison-Type move, and it has a higher chance of poisoning the target than most other Poison-Type moves." Leon explained. As he did so, Rapidash neighed in pain after a purple shock wave spread through its body. "And there's the poison."

"Rapidash, Take Down into Flare Blitz into Flamethrower!" Max said. The spectators looked on in surprise as Rapidash charged forward with amazing speed, then was enveloped in flames. To complete the sequence, it fired a stream of flames. Croagunk was unable to dodge and took a hit from the Flamethrower, as well as the Flare Blitz powered up by the extra speed from Take Down. Croagunk didn't stand a chance.

"Croagunk is unable to battle! Rapidash wins!" the judge declared.

"I think he learned that combination attack from Leon." Sarah said.

"No doubt. Flare Blitz into Flamethrower was one of the moves my Infernape used against Saturn's Toxicroak. I can't believe Max perfected it, though." Leon answered.

Drew smiled. "You won't believe how many practice battles I've had to go through with him."

Dawn smiled as well. "And I'm guessing you beat him every single time?"

May laughed. "Actually, it was more the other way around. Max has gotten really strong." Drew looked away in shame as everyone laughed.

"Steelix, let's go!" Brock commanded. The huge iron snake rose with a roar.

"Why would Brock use Steelix? A Pokémon like Ludicolo would work better, right?" Delia wondered.

"Rapidash isn't exactly at its prime condition. Brock is probably counting on taking it down quickly so that the next Pokémon Max sends out will face a difficult opponent." Ilene suggested.

"Rapidash, Flamethrower!" Max called. Rapidash fired a stream of fire.

"Steelix, Dig!" Brock called. Steelix burrowed into the ground, causing the Flamethrower to miss. Then, it came up below Rapidash, knocking it into the air. When the fire horse came back down, it hit the ground with such force that it fainted.

"Rapidash is unable to battle. Steelix wins!" the judge declared.

"Well, it's not too surprising. That last combination had two recoil moves. Rapidash just got worn out. I wonder what Max's next Pokémon will be." Anabel said.

"Gallade, let's go!" Max called. The soldier-like Pokémon emerged.

"Gallade already?" Brock asked.

Max grinned. "I don't plan on making this easy, Brock! Gallade, Close Combat!" Gallade rushed forward and let loose with a flurry of chops and punches.

"Whoa, Gallade is fast. Definitely a lot stronger since the battle with Ash." Paul said.

"Steelix, Double-Edge!" Brock commanded. Steelix rushed forward with all force. The sheer power of the attack combined with Steelix's bulk caused Gallade to fly into a wall.

"Gallade, are you alright?" Max asked in concern. When Gallade slowly but strongly discharged himself from the wall and gave a proud salute, Max grinned. "OK, jump and use Brick Break!" Gallade's blades glowed and he jumped, chopping down on Steelix. The gravity added extra force to the blow.

"Steelix, Stone Edge!" Steelix got up and summoned a barrage of sharp stones that was then hurled at Gallade.

"Gallade, break through them with Brick Break!" Gallade rushed right through the barrage with two glowing arms as he punched right his through to Steelix. "Now use Close Combat!" The power from Brick Break was still there as Gallade let loose on Steelix with kicks and punches. The iron snake went down with swirls for eyes.

"Steelix is unable to battle! Gallade wins!" the judge called.

"Well, he put up a good fight. Most of Brock's Pokémon won't help against Gallade. Your boyfriend fought well, Misty." Anabel said.

"It's not over yet. But knowing Brock, I think I know how he'll end this battle. With a bang." Misty answered, leaving the listeners confused.

"Forretress, let's end this with a bang!" Brock called. The purple ball with spikes emerged.

"Wow, exact words." Ash commented.

"Gallade, use Close Combat!" Max yelled. Gallade charged in, fists at the ready.

Brock grinned. He knew what was about to do would cause his loss, but he didn't care. He had fun, and plus, max was stronger than him anyway. With any hesitation, he called out, "Forretress! Explosion!"

"Everyone take cover!" Leon ordered as Forretress began to gather energy. When Gallade reached it, Forretress then blew up in a spectacular explosion.

"Is everyone alright?" Liam asked. Though everyone looked shaken, they all seemed fine.

The judge, who was blown away a bit, made his verdict. "Both Forretress and Gallade are unable to battle! As Max still has one Pokémon to use, and Brock has none, Max is the winner!"

As Brock and Max shook hands, Max was frowning. "You threw the match, Brock."

Brock smiled. "You would have beaten me anyway. Besides, it was a cool way to end the battle, right?" Max nodded in agreement and they returned to the stands.

"OK, that was actually quite a good battle. Now, the next ones to battle are…" He drew out two lots. "Well, this will be interesting. Paul and Sarah."

The blond girl and the grim Aura Guardian smiled calmly at each other. Both of them were at levels far beyond the average trainer. A battle between them would definitely be interesting.

**I'm sorry for the wait. This mini-tournament will go on for a few chapters to get that Pokémon feel into it. I've been doing too much work with Aura Guardians lately, so this will be a nice change.**

**Please review.**


	15. Verso Arc: The Tournament, Part 2

**I was bored, so I made this! I've been going over it in my head for a while now, anyway.**

Since it was rather late after the battle between Brock and Max, the group had opted to take a break for the night. Cameran Palace's rooms were quite comfortable, with enough room for a queen-sized bed for the entire party, one for each member. The next morning, the group regrouped to eat breakfast and then go through the day's battles, starting with Paul vs. Sarah.

Sarah was rather excited and nervous at the same time. She was about to battle one of her most powerful allies. She recalled Leon saying that despite the fact that Paul had lost his former ways of abusing Pokémon, the fighting style he used when battling was still rough and brutal. He focused on analyzing his opponents, then using a strategy that usually involved some kind of brute force to take them out.

Paul was entertaining similar thoughts. He was very well aware of Sarah's power as a trainer. She was good enough to be a Frontier Brain! He would have to be careful with her. After all, she achieved a spot equal to his in their respective Pokémon Leagues. Both of them were quarterfinalists. Battling her definitely wouldn't be easy.

After they shook hands, the judge raised his flags. "The battle between Paul and Sarah will now begin! Each trainer will use three Pokémon, and the battle ends when one of them loses all their Pokémon!" He then flung his flags down to signal the beginning of the battle.

"Ursaring, stand by for battle!" Paul called. The huge bear-like Pokémon emerged with a savage roar.

"I'm counting on you, Roserade!" Sarah responded. The lovely Pokémon emerged, landing on its feet calmly.

"Ladies first." Paul said with a smirk.

"Why, thank you." Sarah said. "Roserade, Poison Jab!" Roserade was much faster compared to Ursaring. Under Sarah's training, however, it was able to surpass almost every other Roserade in ability, including Drew's. Those abilities included speed, so when it dashed forward, it completely took Paul and Ursaring by surprise when it reached Ursaring in less then three seconds and socked the bear in the face with poisonous fists.

"Whoa!" Max yelled, jumping out of his seat.

"Roserade's really fast." Ash commented.

"Sarah's gotten a lot stronger." Anabel added.

"You can thank all the Team Aqua members in Johto for that. The ones that we took down, at least." Leon said.

Roserade actually put a lot of power behind the Poison Jab. Ursaring was pushed back.

"Ursaring, don't hold back! Hammer Arm!" Paul yelled. Ursaring roared and its fists glowed. It ran forward, jumped, and pounded at Roserade with his arms in a manner similar to hammering. It took Paul's words to heart and used all its power. Unfortunately, it was too slow as Roserade dodged it.

"Roserade, Magical Leaf!" Sarah commanded. Roserade put her arms forward. Its roses then glowed and fired a swirl of glowing sharp leaves at Ursaring.

"Ursaring, Focus Blast!" Paul commanded. Ursaring charged up a ball of energy in its palms and then hurled it to counter the Magical Leaf. When the two attacks collided, they created a cloud of dust. It was difficult for both trainers to see, so Paul relied on his Aura sense.

"Now, Roserade! Solar Beam!" Sarah cried out. Roserade jumped out of the cloud of dust, gathering solar energy in its hands. Just enough was gathered just as it came down in front of Ursaring. With a cry, Roserade unleashed the Solar Beam. There was no way Ursaring could dodge.

Ursaring fell. "Ursaring is unable to battle! Roserade is the winner!" the judge declared.

"Not bad…" Paul whispered. Ursaring was one of his greatest fighters. It was just too slow. "Not bad." he repeated so that Sarah could hear. He then returned Ursaring to its Poke Ball and exhaled. "You really are a good trainer, Sarah. But you won't find this next Pokémon so easy! Aggron, stand by for battle!" Paul released his Steel-and-Rock type. Like Ursaring, it emerged with a roar.

Sarah recalled seeing Aggron's power when it sent Team Rocket blasting off with just one Double-Edge. "Roserade, be careful! This one's not a pushover!" Roserade nodded and took a fighting pose.

"Aggron, Flash Cannon!" Paul barked. Aggron fired a blast of energy from its mouth.

"Roserade, dodge and use Giga Drain!" Roserade sidestepped the attack and then released a set of green tendrils from its hands. The tendrils then wrapped around Aggron and drained its energy, transferring it to Roserade.

"Aggron, use that to your advantage! Grab on to those tendrils and pull Roserade in!" Paul commanded. Aggron did so. As the tendrils unwrapped around its body, Aggron grabbed them and yanked Roserade towards itself. "Now, Double-Edge!" Aggron's body blazed with energy and it hit Roserade with a full-powered tackle. As Aggron did this, it let go of the tendrils, allowing Roserade to fly back into a wall.

"Roserade, are you OK?" Sarah asked. Roserade slowly pushed off the wall and landed on its feet with a grin. "That's great, Roserade! Now, Magical Leaf!" Roserade fired a swirl of glowing green leaves once more.

"I've got to put it out of its misery. Aggron, block them with Metal Claw!" Aggron's claws glowed and it charged forward, slashing some of the leaves away with Metal Claw, but also relying on its tough skin to reduce some of the damage from the leaves. All in all, Aggron had only taken a bit of damage as it charged at Roserade with sharp claws. With a mighty slash, it defeated Roserade.

"Roserade is unable to battle! Aggron wins!" the judge declared.

"Roserade, return!" Sarah called. After the red beam sucked Roserade back into its Poke Ball, she smiled at it. "You were great. Take a nice, long rest." She then dislodged another Poke Ball from her belt. "Ninetales, I'm counting on you!" The fiery fox emerged, growling.

"Ninetales, Flamethrower!" Ninetales unleashed a powerful blast of fire from its mouth. Aggron took a direct hit.

"Aggron, Metal Burst!" Aggron gathered a ball of energy in its mouth.

When Sarah heard Paul say 'Metal Burst', she gasped. She was very well aware of the fact that Metal Burst dealt 150% of the damage that was dealt to its user. "Ninetales, Dig!" Ninetales quickly burrowed into the ground and narrowly avoided the deadly attack. _"I have to end it now!"_ When Ninetales was about to emerge underneath Aggron, she made her move. "Now, Ninetales! Overheat!" Aggron didn't stand a chance. After all, the attack basically enveloped its entire body, starting with its crotch.

"Aggron is unable to battle! Ninetales is the winner!" the judge declared.

"_To be able to defeat two of my Pokémon like that…Sarah…I can easily see why Leon is in love with you. You're smart, strong, and beautiful."_ Paul thought with a grin. _"I can't hold back anymore."_

"Aggron, return! You did well." Paul removed his final Poke Ball. "Torterra, stand by for battle!" Paul roared. Paul's most powerful Pokémon emerged.

"Ninetales, are you ready?" Sarah asked. Ninetales glanced back at her trainer calmly. Sarah nodded. "Ninetales, Fire Blast!" Ninetales fired a star of flames from its mouth.

"Torterra, counter with Stone Edge!" Paul commanded. Torterra roared and lifted a barrage of sharp stones. It then fired the barrage at the star of flames, crashing through it and hitting Ninetales.

"Torterra's on a completely different level than Paul's other Pokémon." Dawn said.

"Definitely. If Paul's using Torterra, then he must feel threatened." Liam said.

"Not a good choice of words. You're making him sound like a villain." Ilene chided, embarrassing her brother.

"Ninetales, don't give up! Use Overheat!" Ninetales unleashed a spiral blast of hot flames from its mouth.

"Torterra, Frenzy Plant!" Paul yelled. Torterra summoned a huge amount of sharp roots. It was able to move faster than Ninetales as was shown when the Frenzy Plant connected before the Overheat. When the dust cleared, Ninetales was lying on its side with swirls for eyes.

"Ninetales is unable to battle! Torterra wins!" the judge declared.

"Wow. To be able to defeat an opponent with a type advantage…Paul's not joking around with Torterra." Max commented.

"I wonder how Sarah will counteract Torterra." Brock voiced his thoughts.

Leon knew Sarah, which meant that he could guess what Pokémon would be her final. He sighed. "If she wants to win, she has no choice." he muttered.

"I'm counting on you, Lopunny!" Sarah called after recalling Ninetales. Lopunny landed gracefully on its feet, like Roserade, only with even more beauty.

"First Pokémon against first Pokémon. Typical." Drew said.

"Lopunny, Dizzy Punch into Jump Kick!" Sarah called. Lopunny raced forward with speeds that far surpassed Roserade's. Its ears launched several jabs at Torterra's face, then it jumped a bit and kicked off Torterra's face. The Continent Pokémon was actually fazed by the attack combination.

"Something else typical for Sarah…her Pokémon are faster than her opponent's." May said.

"A combination attack? Nice. But your power won't compare to mine. Torterra, Energy Ball!" Torterra charged up a ball of green energy from its mouth and fired. Lopunny easily dodged it.

"Lopunny, Ice Beam!" Sarah commanded. Lopunny fired a thin bolt of icy energy from its mouth that caused massive damage to Torterra thanks to the double type advantage.

"Lopunny knows Ice Beam?" Misty asked in shock.

"That's going to complicate things for Paul." Brock said.

Paul growled. "_Tch…Ice Beam, huh? How I am I supposed to beat her? Torterra's not fast enough to dodge most attacks, and its defense isn't going to help much longer. Lopunny, on the other hand, can dodge almost any attack I throw at it. It's both strong and fast. I'll lose if unless I turn Lopunny's speed against it somehow…"_ He racked his brain until he stumbled upon a strategy that could work, but it was a gamble. But it was a gamble he was willing to take.

"Torterra, Energy Ball!" Torterra charged up and fired the green ball once more.

"Lopunny, dodge and use Quick Attack!" Lopunny sidestepped the ball and rushed forward with a trail of energy blazing behind it.

'That's just what I was waiting for! Torterra, Earthquake!" Torterra rose up on its hind legs and came down, causing a massive quake. Lopunny was taken by surprise and was unbalanced. "Now! Frenzy Plant!" Torterra roared and summoned a barrage of roots from the ground.Without any warning, the roots then lashed and whipped Lopunny repeatedly.

When it was over, Lopunny was fainted. "Lopunny is unable to battle! Torterra wins!"

"Lopunny, return!" Lopunny was sucked into the Poke Ball with a red beam. After that, Paul and Sarah returned to the center of the field to shake hands once more. "Did you have to go that far?" Sarah asked.

Paul smiled. "Sorry. You were actually excellent. If you chose to use Ice Beam or Jump Kick, I probably would have lost." This drew a smile from Sarah and they returned to the others in the stands.

Throughout the day, the group all enjoyed watching and being a part of many battles. Misty was defeated by Max, who was then beaten by Anabel. However, the young trainer was happy to have finally gotten his battle with the Salon Maiden. May fought well, as she was able to defeat Dawn before being only narrowly defeated by Leon. Drew also did very well, actually managing to defeat Anabel but then losing to a very impressed Ash. Eventually, Ash and Paul faced each other once more. After a ferocious battle, Ash won a narrow victory against Paul. This left Leon and Ash to face each other in a final battle that would determine who would face Liam. As a special treat, the battle would be a full six-on-six.

**Will Ash be able to defeat his friend? Or will Leon triumph over his leader? After all, they are both evenly matched.**

**If you want to find out, wait until I update, and in the meantime, please review.**


	16. Verso Arc: The Tournament, Part 3

**I should have updated on Memorial Day. Instead, I got myself distracted from probably my most popular story. **

**Ugh…anyway, it's Ash against in a full six-on-six battle! Ash has already beaten Paul, who's really one of the few members of the group that has a chance of beating him. Leon is another one. This should be good!**

**Also, this chapter will feature the Pokémon's thoughts as well, and like last time, those thoughts will be written in italics. Also, I won't describe all six Pokémon battles in detail because it will take too long. I'll only describe the first, second, and last battles, leaving out the third, fourth and the fifth.**

Both Ash and Leon had confident smirks on their faces as they shook hands. Neither of them would back down from this challenge. On the sidelines, the others watched with intense excitement. All of the Pokémon, even Gyarados and Steelix, were also watching. Liam's full team was finally revealed. Skarmory, Tropius, Arcanine, Walrein, Manectric, and Gengar.

"Paul, you have any guesses on who's going to win this one?" Dawn asked.

Paul smirked as well. "Both of them were good enough to beat every single person they've come up against in this mini-tournament. Even though I've battled them before, I can't tell who will win." he said.

"The battle between Ash and Leon will now begin! Each trainer will use six Pokémon, and the winner will be determined by whoever has knocked out all his opponent's Pokémon first! Begin!" the judge declared.

"Pikachu, you ready for this?" Ash asked.

_"You got it, Ash!"_ Pikachu said in Pokémon language, quickly jumping off of Ash's shoulder.

_"Good luck, Pikachu!" _Espeon silently willed her crush to win.

"Just what I was hoping for. Infernape, show them your power!" Leon called.

Infernape emerged. _"Pikachu, huh? Just who I wanted to face." _

Lopunny then turned to Espeon. _"OK, let's both agree that we will not kill each other no matter which one of our lovers wins." _she suggested. Espeon nodded in agreement.

Paul's Magmortar laughed._ "Love is both beautiful and annoying." _

May's Blaziken laughed as well. _"Like when Ash's Sceptile fell for that Meganium back then."_

_"Weren't you jealous?" _May's Glaceon inquired. This caused Blaziken to blush a little while Drew's Flygon chuckled.

"What are they waiting for?" May asked. Both of them hadn't moved for a few minutes now. They seemed to be concentrating.

Paul's eyes widened in realization. "Anabel, do any of your Pokémon have any barrier or reflection moves?" he asked.

Anabel shook her head. "No. Why?"

"Volt Tackle!" Ash suddenly yelled.

"Flare Blitz!" Leon yelled at the exact same time.

"This is why!" Paul yelled as the two Pokémon rushed towards each other with their respective attacks. "Electivire, Protect!" Electivire knew what was about to happen, and quickly raised a shield in front of the stands. This was a good idea, too, because when the two attacks collided, they released a powerful shock wave that pretty much ruined the field.

_"Oh, my Arceus! Why can't they be more careful?"_ Sarah's Medicham complained.

_"They're men! They hardly know the meaning of careful!" _Sarah's Roserade answered.

_"We'll pretend we didn't hear that!"_ the male Pokémon said.

"I've never seen an attack collision that powerful!" Liam yelled.

"There's probably going to be a lot more where that came from." Sarah said.

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!" Ash called. Pikachu fired a powerful bolt of electricity.

"Infernape, Flamethrower!" Leon called. Infernape countered electricity with fire.

As the two trainers called out random attacks, each of them counteracted, the spectators were beginning to get rather annoyed. Drew growled. "They're so evenly matched!"

"What did you expect?" Misty asked.

"Not this!" Drew answered.

Currently, it was a battle between Iron Tail from Pikachu and Close Combat from Infernape. A steel-hard tail from Pikachu countered each punch and kick that Infernape launched.

"ASH! YOU ARE A GREAT TRAINER, BUT IT'S TIMT TO END THIS!" Leon roared.

Ash grinned. "MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY, GREEN AURA GUARDIAN!" he yelled.

As the two trainers screamed, dark clouds began gathering. Lightning flashed, and it began to rain. As it did, the two competitors used their final attacks.

"Infernape, Blast Burn!" Leon yelled. Infernape, now using Blaze's full effect, fired an erupting blast of flames from its mouth that screamed with insane power at Pikachu.

"Pikachu, Thunder!" Ash commanded. Pikachu used the actual lightning above in the sky to power up its attack. Both attacks hit their targets at exactly the same time. This caused a ferocious shockwave even more powerful than the last one to rip through the arena. This shockwave easily shattered Electivire's Protect, but luckily, no one got hurt.

When the dust cleared, Infernape and Pikachu were still standing! "Impossible!" Max yelled.

_"This is a battle of willpower now." _Paul's Torterra murmured. And so it was. At the exact same time, both Pokémon lost all feeling in their legs and collapsed.

The judge struggled up from his ruined podium. "Both Pokémon are unable to battle!" Leon recalled Infernape into its ball while Ash carried Pikachu to the stands.

"Can you take care of him?" Ash asked. Anabel nodded and took Pikachu from Ash's hands. As he walked back to his side of the field, he looked back and said, "I'm sorry about the filed, by the way." Ilene nodded in understanding.

"Be more careful this time!" May yelled. Meanwhile, Espeon began to nose Pikachu.

_"Is he alright?" _Paul's Honchkrow asked. Espeon hesitated a bit, and nodded. Most of the Pokémon breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sceptile!" Ash called.

"Machamp!" Leon called.

The bodybuilder and the lizard appeared, both of them fully prepared for both victory and defeat. They were both hoping for the former.

_"It's speed against power."_ Drew's Absol growled.

_"Hey, Electivire, you alright?" _Dawn's Quilava asked.

Electivire was panting from both exhaustion and the shock that its Protect, of all moves, had just been shattered. Nevertheless, it managed a grin. _"I'm fine. The one you should be worrying about is Pikachu."_

Paul, although he couldn't understand the language of Pokémon, was very well aware of Electivire's condition. Therefore, his next action was completely justified. "Electivire, return. You need a rest." he said. He sucked Electivire back into its Poke Ball.

"Sceptile, Leaf Blade!" Ash commanded. Sceptile's leaves glowed. It took advantage of the rough terrain by jumping across pushed-up areas of ground so that Machamp couldn't predict which direction Sceptile would attack from. It worked. Sceptile easily struck Machamp with a powerful Leaf Blade.

However, Machamp had its own tricks. "Machamp, Revenge!" Leon called. Machamp hit Sceptile with a ferocious uppercut, taking advantage of the fact that Revenge would do double its normal damage and also Sceptile's close proximity to it. Sceptile was knocked back and disappeared under the pushed up ground.

"_You're as strong as ever, Sceptile, but even you have weaknesses!" _Machamp laughed.

"You have to keep your guard up when your opponent has great fighting ability, especially when you're up against my Machamp! You, of all people, should know that!" Leon said.

To his surprise, Ash grinned. "And the ones with great fighting ability should watch out for those who use other weapons besides their fists! Sceptile, Giga Drain!" Green tendrils suddenly erupted out of the ground and wrapped around Machamp. They began to drain its energy.

Sceptile emerged. _"You have weaknesses as well, my friend. I believe we should both know each other's weak spots, considering all the practice battles we fought together. The question is, who will defeat the other?" _

"Machamp, Focus Blast!" Leon called. Machamp charged up a ball of energy through the pain and fired that ball of energy at Sceptile. Sceptile was unable to pull away in time and got hit by the blast. Its endurance pulled through, and it easily recovered.

"If that's how you want to play, then bring it on! Sceptile, Leaf Blade!" Sceptile's leaves sharpened once more and it charged at Machamp.

"Machamp, counter with Dynamic Punch!" All of Machamp's fists glowed and it charged forward as well. Both Pokémon unleashed battle cries as they clashed with a flurry of their attacks. Both Pokémon sustained damage, but kept fighting. It was Infernape against Pikachu all over again, only this time, the drama of the clash was intensified by the rain, thunder, and lightning.

Finally, they broke apart. Both Sceptile and Machamp were panting. However, Sceptile's tired condition caused Overgrow to activate, striking slight fear into the hearts of Machamp and Leon.

_"I won't…let you win!"_ Sceptile panted.

Machamp smiled. _"Then give it all you've got, because I don't plan on losing, either!"_

"Sceptile, Leaf Storm, and don't hold back!" Ash commanded. Sceptile's seeds on its back glowed and it unleashed a swirling blast of leaves, blazing with energy from Overgrow.

"Machamp, it's time to show them our new combination! Now! Dynamic Punch into Focus Blast! Use all four hands!" Leon commanded. Machamp quickly charged up energy in its hands with Dynamic Punch, then it charged up even further for Focus Blast.

"Everyone brace yourselves! This collision will be as powerful as the collision of Blast Burn and Thunder!" Sarah warned. Machamp unleashed a Focus Blast that was much more powerful than the blast before. The attacks collided, releasing another shockwave. As Sarah had said, the shockwave was so powerful that if Electivire was still using Protect, the shield would have been shattered once more.

The collision also resulted in an explosion that ripped through the already ruined field. "Not again!" May complained as the field was almost completely destroyed.

"I am very close to quitting!" the judge warned. However, everyone ignored that statement because the dust was clearing. When it fully dissipated, it revealed both Sceptile and Machamp, both of them down for the count.

"Judge?" Ilene called. The judge simply pouted, folded his arms, and ignored her.

"We swear on our honor and pride as both Pokémon Trainers and Aura Guardians that we will not ruin the field anymore!" Ash and Leon both swore with their hands over their chests.

"Oh, well, in that case, both Sceptile and Machamp are unable to battle! It's another draw!" the judge declared.

"Another draw? How many times have you Pokémon trainers seen two draws in a row?" Delia asked. Everyone shook his or her heads. When Ash and Paul battled, they only got one draw.

Sarah's Swellow looked at Medicham. _"Medicham, how do you feel about this?" _she asked.

Medicham smiled. _"Machamp fought with all his might. That's all I could ask for."_

"Two draws in a row. How often does that happen?" Leon asked with a chuckle. Then he drew out a Poke Ball. "No matter. I plan to break that record with my first victory. Drapion, don't hold back!" The gigantic scorpion rose out of its Poke Ball with a loud roar.

Ash took out a Poke Ball as well. "Charizard, I choose you!" The powerful fire dragon emerged as well. At an order from their trainers, they charged at each other. The battle raged on in the storm. Charizard, using Blaze to full effect, was able to defeat Drapion. However, Blaze meant Charizard had been weakened severely, and Leon knew this. A single Aerial Ace from Leon's Staraptor finished Charizard off.

Then, an aerial battle took place between Ash's Pidgeot and Leon's Staraptor. A collision of Brave Birds knocked out both Pokémon, resulting in another draw, to the complete amazement of the spectators. After that, Ash's Lapras took on Leon's Abomasnow, with Abomasnow being the victor. Finally, Ash's Snorlax took down Abomasnow due to sheer willpower.

"This has been a great battle. Whoever wins this one will get to face Liam." Ilene said.

Liam's Skarmory cawed._ "Frankly, I don't care which trainer we face. They're both strong."_

Liam's Arcanine growled in agreement. _"Either one of them would definitely give us a challenge. Battling Verso's Pokémon is quite annoying."_

Leon revealed his final Pokémon. "Luxray, let's finish this!" The mighty lion-like Pokémon emerged with a proud cry that was dramatized by the thunder and lightning.

"Who's going to win this one? It's so hard to tell!"Max said as the battle began.

_"Snorlax is a tough opponent. There's no doubt that he is one of Ash's best Pokémon."_ Paul's Ursaring growled.

_"None of you really understand. Ninetales's mate is an anomaly."_ Paul's Torterra muttered.

_"What do you mean?"_ asked Dawn's Togekiss.

Paul's Torterra gave an annoyed look at Togekiss. _"You haven't noticed? Look at Luxray's tail. It has a lightning bolt shape instead of a four-pointed star. None of the Pokémon here knows what it means. Not even Luxray himself knows."_

Ninetales looked at him. _"And who told you that Luxray didn't know what it meant?"_

Torterra looked back. _"Luxray did."_ Ninetales's look became pointed, like she knew something Torterra didn't. _"Did he lie?"_

Ninetales nodded, and the lightning flashed as Luxray used Thunderbolt. **"**_He does know what that tail symbolizes. I'm one of the only ones he told. Aside from me, he only told Infernape and Lopunny."_ Lopunny nodded.

_"But why would Luxray tell you only? Didn't he trust any of us?" _Paul's Aggron growled.

_"The reason he didn't tell you is because he didn't want to scare you. I won't tell you now, either. It's Luxray's story to tell. If you press, I do have the capability to defeat you." _Ninetales said with a smile.

Honchkrow sighed. _"Let it go. It just goes to show you how Luxray loves and trusts them."_

Luxray was currently locked into battle with Snorlax. However, he felt like Snorlax was becoming almost impossible to beat. He didn't seem visibly affected by Luxray's moves. Leon was thinking the same thing. "Snorlax, Ice Punch!" Ash called. Snorlax rushed forward with surprising speed and punched Luxray with a frozen fist. Luxray, already weakened, seem down for the count.

"Luxray is unable to…" The judge was interrupted when Luxray struggled to his feet, its resolve burning in his eyes.

Ash and Snorlax were surprised. _"You have excellent determination, Luxray. But that may be your downfall."_

_"I won't lose. I must preserve my pride as a Luxray! I am…"_ Luxray's tail began glowing._ "I am…"_ His body began sparking with electricity._ "I AM LUXRAY! I'LL FIGHT FOR THE SIDE OF GOOD!"_ The sky rent itself apart with lightning.

"Luxray, what is going on?" Leon asked. Luxray simply continued roaring and releasing massive bolts of electricity. His eyes had lost their pupils. Now they were completely yellow. Liam and Paul put up an Aura Shield to defend against the energy. Snorlax did his best to resist the stray bolts that struck him, but it wasn't easy. Luxray's bolts of electricity were on a completely different level than before.

"LUXRAY, STOP IT!" Leon roared.

"Come on, Luxray!" Ash added, almost as concerned as Leon.

Lopunny and Ninetales looked at each other and gave a sharp and quick nod. To Sarah's surprise, as well as everyone else's, they leapt out of the protection of the Aura Shield and rushed towards the raging Luxray. With no hesitation, Sarah ordered her Pokémon to stay where they were and followed.

At the same time, one of Leon's Poke Balls burst open to reveal the wounded but otherwise fine Infernape. "Infernape? What are you doing? You're hurt!" Infernape grinned at his trainer.

_"Sorry, Leon, but I had to do this!" _He then looked past Leon to see Sarah, Lopunny, and Ninetales rushing in their direction. His smile grew relieved. _"It's a good thing they're coming. I don't know what would happen if they didn't help."_

Leon followed his gaze to see his girlfriend and her two best Pokémon. "Leon!" she greeted when they got there. Sarah hugged him, and he hugged back in turn. She kissed him on the cheek. "Are you okay?"

Leon's gaze grew intense. "I could ask the same for you. What are you doing here?"

"Leon! Snorlax can hold out for a while! Don't worry about me! Just focus on stopping Luxray!" Ash called.

Leon looked back at his leader. "You've won this bout, Ash. I hate to admit it, but I have to quit for the sake of stopping Luxray."

Ash nodded. "I understand, and I'll help as well!" When Ash said this, Infernape, Lopunny, and Ninetales all cried out in protest. "What's wrong with them?" Ash asked.

"It's probably not a good idea to help them. Just let Sarah and I deal with this! You have to heal your Pokémon and make sure that the others are safe! Take the rest of my Pokémon as well!" Leon said, throwing his belt of Poke Balls to Ash.

"You got it, Leon. But be careful. I don't want to lose a friend like you." Ash said. Leon nodded, and Ash returned Snorlax into its ball and ran back into the stands.

_"Luxray, calm down!"_ Infernape screeched.

_"Please, Luxray, you have to control your anger!" _Lopunny added.

_"LUXRAY!" _Ninetales cried. The lightning was very intense. There wasn't even any rain anymore.

_"I-infernape…L-lopunny…N-ninetales! I can't…control this power…" _Luxray struggled to form words. His lightning bolt-shaped tail was pulsing with energy. _"H-help!"_

Ninetales gave a strangled wail. She rushed forward to her mate, ignoring the cries of Infernape and Lopunny. She somehow managed to dodge every bolt that went her way. When she got to Luxray, she looked up at her mate. _"Luxray…you said…that you would never go evil because you had me by your side. You're hurting. You've always protected me, no matter how powerful the enemy was! You never stopped fighting. Your entire life, ever since you were born, was a fight, all because of that tail!"_ She screamed as a bolt struck her. That scream got Luxray's attention, and he looked down in shock to see his love being attacked, by his own attack!

_"Luxray!" _It was Infernape._ "You were my second Pokémon friend. You and I stuck together no matter what. That's why…I have to help stop you! For the sake of all the Pokémon here, all the people here…"_ He rushed forward, Blaze in full ability, and he punched Luxray in the chin.

Lopunny leapt up to stand next to Infernape._ "Out of all the Pokémon in Leon's team, I trust Infernape the most. However, you are a close shot! You're a fighter, Luxray! Fight the temptation of going evil! If not for yourself, then for the one you love!" _She gestured at Ninetales.

Luxray was struggling to fight his anger and darkness. Then, two more voices came. His trainer! And his mate's trainer! Leon and Sarah!

"Luxray! You can do it!" Leon called.

"Don't give up, Luxray!" Sarah cheered.

Luxray was beginning to calm down. The bolts were less intense. "LUXRAY!" Leon, Sarah, Infernape, Lopunny, and Ninetales all called his name at the same time. The ones he trusted the most. Luxray fought with even greater vigor against himself. With a mighty roar, he released a massive bolt of lightning towards the sky. This bolt of lightning just happened to contain all the power still caused by Luxray's tail. It dispelled the clouds.

Unfortunately, this left Luxray without enough energy to stay conscious. He fell on his side. _"Luxray!"_ Ninetales cried. She nosed her unconscious mate. He didn't move. The only sign that he was even alive was his faint breathing. This brought tears to Ninetales's eyes, and she buried her face into Luxray's fur. _"Please stay alive, Luxray. There's no point for me to live if you don't. I…I love you!"_

Every spectator rushed towards the fallen Pokémon. And yet, only a few people noticed something 's tail was in the normal tail shape for Luxray. The lightning bolt was gone. Instead, it was a four-pointed star.

**Ash, Paul, and Leon's Pokémon all have immense power. Anabel, Sarah, and Max are a close shot behind. Liam's power surpasses them all. Still, you just read an example of how dangerous immense power can be if uncontrolled. **

**Anyway, the tournament comes to a shocking end next chapter! Why? Liam and Ash don't battle! Instead…yeah, it's not too hard to guess who interrupts. I really don't need to tell you.**

**Please review. **


	17. Heroes Arc: Voluntary Evolution

**In this chapter, there will be something that will probably give me bad reviews. The first part of the chapter will be in the humans' point of view, while the second part will be in the Pokémon's point of view.**

It was the battle everyone had been waiting for. On one end, it was the father. On the other, it was the son. Both were powerful Aura Guardians, and even better Pokémon trainers. Both had strategic minds and great battle prowess and instincts. Putting all of that together, the only deciding factor in the battle between Liam and Ash could have been experience, in which Liam clearly had the upper hand. Nevertheless, it was a Pokémon battle. Anything could happen.

"The battle between Liam and Ash will now begin! Each trainer will use six Pokémon, and the winner will be determined by whoever loses all of his or her Pokémon first! Begin!" the judge declared. He was still confused as to why the field was fixed only just enough to turn the field from completely destroyed to a state of rough ground, and not into the undisturbed state it had been in before the battles. Ilene had said that it was to give the trainers more "fun."

"Manectric, it's your move!" Liam threw a Poke Ball from which the wolf-like Pokémon emerged, and with its appearance, storm clouds began to gather.

"There's nothing like a bunch of storm clouds to play up the drama of a moment." Leon said. 

"Sceptile, I choose you!" Ash threw Sceptile's Poke Ball, and the huge lizard Pokémon emerged.

As Ash and Liam were about to call out their attacks, thunder boomed, and an evil laugh was heard. "Aah, don't even tell me." Paul growled.

"I'm afraid I have to. After all, I'm the one making the entrance." It was obvious who it was. The one they've been against for all this time. Verso slowly descended from the clouds on his Salamence.

"Why is it that whenever my son and I have a battle, you interrupt it?" Liam asked.

"Verso!" Ilene called, running onto the field, ignoring Delia's cries to stop.

Verso let in a sharp intake of breath. "I-ilene!" he stammered. Then he regained his composure and grinned. "So you've joined their fight as well. No matter. I haven't hesitated to attack our brother. What makes you think that I won't attack you?"

Ilene's eyes filled with tears. "So, it's true. You have completely lost your humanity."

"No, I'm still a human." Verso countered.

"Sceptile, Leaf Blade!" Ash commanded. Sceptile's leaves sharpened and it gave a tremendous leap, ready to cut down the dragon.

"Salamence, Dragonbreath!" Liam yelled. Salamence fired a blast of green flames that hit Sceptile. When Sceptile crashed to the ground, it was already fainted, much to the horror and shock of the spectators.

"No way! Sceptile is one of Ash's most powerful fighters! How could it have been beaten just from one Dragonbreath?" Max asked.

"Manectric, Thunderbolt!" Liam yelled. Manectric charged up lightning and fired.

Verso quickly removed a Poke Ball from his belt. "Nidoking, block it and use Earth Power!" Nidoking emerged with a roar, and it was hit with the Thunderbolt. However, due to its Ground-Type nature, it was not affected. When it landed on the ground, Nidoking's body glowed golden and it slammed its fist into the ground. Cracks branched towards Manectric, and when they reached the wolf, pillars of earth shot out, causing a one-hit KO on Manectric.

Salamence landed beside Nidoking, and Verso jumped off its back. "You guys can do better than that. If you're so confident, then I'll take every single one of you on at once. If you want to defeat my Pokémon, you're going to have to use every trick you know."

"Dad…do we have any choice?" Ash asked.

Liam looked at him. "Son, Verso is even stronger than I am. This might be our only chance to defeat him. He's not going to hold back. Call everyone in. We'll defeat Verso even if we have to give up our pride as Aura Guardians in the process."

Ash nodded. "Everyone, let's go! We have to attack Verso with everything we've got! Send out all your Pokémon!"

Leon, Anabel, Paul, Dawn, Sarah, Max, May, Misty, Drew, and Brock quickly jumped over the barrier between the stands and the field. As they did so, they released all their Pokémon.

"So be it! I don't care if I have to fight a thousand of you! I will win!" Verso shouted. He unleashed four more Poke Balls that revealed a Typhlosion, a Dusknoir, a Feraligatr, and an Ampharos. All of them, as well as Salamence and Nidoking, looked hardened and ready for battle.

"Attack!" Verso commanded. His Pokémon charged, ready to face the huge group of Pokémon that opposed him. That group of Pokémon retaliated with a charge to meet them.

_An hour later…_

Ash couldn't believe it. Despite the fact that the odds were completely stacked against Verso, his friends and their Pokémon were all defeated by Verso's Pokémon. Everyone had gone to the infirmary for treatment. Verso hadn't spared the trainers, and although Ilene and Delia had been escorted far from the battle, Verso had quickly overpowered the others with his Aura, and put them in the hospital. Anabel and his dad were among those injured.

The only players left in this game were Ash and his Pikachu and Verso and his Typhlosion. On one hand, all of Verso's other Pokémon were beaten. On the other, it had taken a lot of their Pokémon just to take down one of Verso's. And both Pikachu and Typhlosion had been severely weakened.

Unfortunately, Typhlosion had Blaze in full effect, while Pikachu didn't even have any storm clouds to boost its power. The storm clouds had disappeared when Manectric had fainted. All that was left were cirrus clouds, and they couldn't help Pikachu use its ultimate move. Still, Ash knew he had to try to defeat Verso.

"Pikachu, Volt Tail!" Ash commanded. Pikachu had just enough energy to perform this combination attack. Pikachu charged up Volt Tackle and rushed forward. Then it charged Iron Tail and leapt, ready to strike Typhlosion with a steel-hard, electrically charged tail.

"Typhlosion, show them the difference between our powers. Blast Burn." Verso said with a smirk. Poor Pikachu didn't have enough control over Volt Tail to dodge the attack. It took a direct hit from the most powerful Fire-Type move, powered up by Blaze. Luckily, the electricity coating its body as well as the Iron Tail allowed Pikachu to faint with less severe wounds. However, it still meant that Ash lost.

"Typhlosion, return." Liam sucked his Pokémon back into its ball and stalked over to his young nephew, who was now on his knees. Liam stood over him. "You fool. I admit you and your friends did very well to knock out five of my Pokémon and then bring the last one into an extremely weak state. But in the end, it was still not enough." He lifted Ash by the throat, squeezing slightly so as to choke him. "In a week, I will commence with the final part of my plan. Try to stop me if you want, but know that you, Liam, nor any of your friends could stand up against me for long." Verso threw Ash to the ground, where he lay. "Goodbye, nephew." He leapt up through the stands until he reached the top and disappeared over the edge of the stadium, leaving Ash and Pikachu to be discovered by medics.

_That night…_

Pikachu awoke. He was still hurting from the defeat he had suffered. It was different when he lost to another trainer's Pokémon, but this time, he had lost to a Pokémon controlled by someone evil. And yet, none of them seemed to mind working for him. All of the Pokémon were proudly obeying Verso's commands. What was even more surprising was that Verso seemed to care about his Pokémon, never pushing them past their limits, and recalling them when things got tough. Why wouldn't he display that kind of behavior towards his own family? Pikachu would probably never understand.

Still, there was something he had to take care of. He slowly got out of his bed in the mini Pokémon Center in Cameran Palace and walked out the door. There, he walked up a flight of stairs to the specialized room meant for Pokémon. To his pleasure, Espeon, Infernape, Luxray, and Electivire were waiting for him, just as he had asked them to during their recovery. They all still had some bandages, but they could still walk.

"_Good evening, everyone."_ Pikachu greeted.

"_Good evening? It's a little too late for that, don't you think?" _Electivire asked.

" '_Good evening' is the latest of time of day greetings. 'Good night' is for saying goodbye." _Espeon said.

"_Let's cut to the chase. Why have you called us out at this hour, Pikachu?" _Infernape asked.

"_I need some advice regarding my defeat today and a decision." _Pikachu said.

"_Pikachu, it wasn't your fault that I got hurt. Don't beat yourself up because of it." _Espeon said, guessing what he meant.

"_That's not why I'm depressed. I reached my limit, and used all my power, but I still couldn't beat that Typhlosion! Even though I'm an anomaly Pikachu with much higher power limits than normal, I think I've reached those limits, and I still couldn't take down that Typhlosion!" _Pikachu said.

"_So…your point is…?"_ Electivire asked.

"_I never really wanted to do this. I wanted to show Ash how powerful a Pikachu could be. I wanted to show him that I could surpass any Pokémon. But it looks like I have no choice. There is one way that I can get stronger and increase my limits. Something that you have all gone through."_ Pikachu explained.

"_No way…Pikachu, are you saying that you want to evolve?" _Luxray hissed. Slowly, Pikachu nodded.

"_I wanted to talk to you guys before I made the decision. I wanted to talk to a great friend, the one that I love, and two other masters of the Electric-Type. So, can you tell me what you guys think?"_ Pikachu asked.

The others were silent for a moment. Finally, Infernape spoke up. _"You're difficult enough to beat as it is. If you evolve, it will give me something to look forward to surpassing once more. I will finally have someone stronger on my side. Besides, we all need to get stronger to face this threat. If training's not enough for you, then I say go for evolution."_

"_Thanks, Infernape."_ Pikachu said.

Luxray sighed. _"I admit, I'm a little apprehensive about this. Raichu have enormous electric power, and they have to be skilled in controlling it. What if you lose control? What if you hurt someone close to you, like I did with Ninetales?"_

Pikachuglanced at Espeon and his face grew resolute. _"In that case, I will have to train harder than ever, to protect my friends as well as to get stronger."_

"_Then I have no objections." _Luxray said.

"_I can't tell you what to do with yourself. That's your decision. I never got the chance to have a say in when I evolved. But you do have a say, so I think you should do all you can to support your own opinion. Do what you want." _Electivire said.

"_All right."_ Then Pikachu looked at Espeon, who seemed kind of glum. Her eyes were sad. _"Espeon, your opinion matters the most to me. You could agree with the others, or you could vote against them, and I would consider it as a veto and I won't evolve."_

Espeon looked up. _"I feel like I'm losing a best friend. I know personality doesn't change when you evolve, just ability and appearance. You might be a bit more mature, but your overall personality stays the same. Still…"_ She rubbed her face into Pikachu's chest. _"I can't imagine losing you. What if I don't like it?"_

Pikachu used his paws and consoled Espeon by stroking her back. _"I'll still retain my love for you. If you don't want me to evolve, then I won't evolve."_

"_No, it's fine if you want to evolve. I'll deal with any personality changes later. It's your decision, really. Don't just make your decisions based on what others say."_ Espeon said.

"_It's settled, then. I'm going to evolve."_ Pikachu said.

"_One problem, though. Where are we going to get a Thunderstone?" _Electivire asked.

"_Leon has a lot of stuff in his bag, and I think he has a few Thunderstones in there. That brings up the problem of how we're going to get it without disturbing anyone." _Infernape said.

Luxray growled and looked at the closet. _"Drapion, you can come out now. I know you're there. No point trying to hide from me, especially behind objects."_ There was a short silence, then the closet door opened to reveal the giant scorpion-like Pokémon, also known as Drapion, the assassin of Leon's team.

"_I have some x-ray vision, Drapion. You, of all people, should better than to hide from me." _Luxray said.

"_I heard your conversation. I can help you get the Thunderstone. After all, even the Aura Guardians can't sense me that easily." _Drapion said, then he silently ran out the door.

"_The convenient thing is that that was what I was about to ask him." _Pikachu said. Drapion returned a few moments later holding a light green stone with a lightning-bolt design on it.

Infernape took it and showed to Pikachu. _"Are you sure you want to do this, Pikachu?"_

"_Yes."_ Pikachu said. Infernape nodded and gave the stone to Pikachu. Once the stone was in close proximity to Pikachu, they both began glowing. The immense energy blazed white, and Pikachu slowly changed form. His tail grew into a more whiplike shape, with a lightning bolt at its tip. Pikachu grew bigger, and his ears changed shape. When the glowing energy stopped, the Thunderstone was no more. Pikachu was no more.

"_Pikachu?"_ Espeon asked tentatively.

The newly-evolved Raichu looked at his mate. He pulled her into his arms, consoling her the same way he did before he evolved, by stroking her back. _"Call me Raichu."_ he whispered. His voice was deeper, and when Espeon looked up, his face radiated confidence. It seemed to be more mature, but to her, also more handsome. However, his eyes were the same. They spoke of a Pokémon who had great fighting ability, but also had a kind heart.

"_So, Raichu. Why don't we test your new abilities?"_ Infernape asked. Without warning, he leapt forward, throwing a strong punch at Raichu. Raichu quickly countered with his own little punch, although Infernape had the advantage due to arm length. Infernape lashed at Raichu with his tail, which was countered by Raichu's own tail. Back and forth, they sparred, and Raichu was clearly proving to be stronger than when he was a Pikachu. He could take attacks more easily, he could attack more powerfully, and his speed had increased. While Raichu could barely keep up with Infernape before evolution, he could now fight on par with Infernape in terms of speed.

"_All right, enough."_ Infernape said, catching a tail lash.

"_This new power…I'll have to get used to it."_ Raichu said.

"_For now, let's give Ash a little surprise."_ Electivire said smugly. The others laughed and they left the room.

Raichu and Espeon walked beside one another. _"So, what do you think?"_ Raichu asked.

Espeon nuzzled Raichu. _"I love it."_ she laughed. Raichu felt happier than words could describe, and he licked her in return of her nuzzle.

When Ash woke up the next morning, his surprise to see that Pikachu had chosen to evolve into Raichu was like the day when Ash, Paul, and Leon returned from Mt. Silver.

**I think I might lose a lot of supporters for this one. Otherwise, I thank those who respect my decision. Please review, and I'll watch out for any flames.**


	18. Heroes Arc: The Final Battle

**I am finally back from my trip to China! Now, it's time to update!**

"Raichu, Thunder!" Ash yelled.

"Infernape, Blast Burn!" Leon called.

"Torterra, Frenzy Plant!" Paul commanded.

The three Pokémon unleashed their most powerful attacks. Their targets were their trainers. Ash, Paul and Leon were trying to train themselves by battling their Pokémon. It was a style of training that not only benefitted both sides, but also increased friendship between trainer and Pokémon.

Currently, the three Aura Guardians were attempting to boost their Aura Shields' power. It was slow going, though, because despite all their training over the week, none of them seemed to be able to block an attack from Liam, who was as strong as Verso.

But they were keeping a secret. Ash, Paul and Leon's Aura Weapons had changed. Ash's Aura Sword was now Aura Twin Swords. Paul's Aura Axe was now an Aura Scythe. Leon's Aura Spear was now an Aura Lance. After these upgrades, their powers of Aura had grown to a level equal to Liam, but they were hiding it.

Ash recalled the discussion he had with Paul and Leon last night. Raichu was not present at the time.

_Flashback…_

"_Guys, I've been thinking, and I think that it's best if we face Verso alone, just the three of us."_ _Ash said._

"_Is this a matter of glory, or a matter of protection?" Leon asked._

"_Protection. Verso has already proven that he's stronger than almost any of us. The only ones who stand a chance of beating him are Dad and us. We can't risk any chances. We can't risk any of our friends dying." Ash said._

"_And if we die?" Paul asked._

"_Then we'll die trying. Besides, I have a plan. There's a Mew living in the Tree of Beginning. If we give our Aura to it, it will have enough power to stop Verso. I've seen it concentrate Aura into its body before." Ash said._

"_So we're sacrificing ourselves? What about our Pokémon? What about our friends?" Leon asked._

"_We have no choice. We'll leave our Pokémon here. I can't deprive Raichu of his right to live with his mate. If we can't live with the ones we love, we should at least allow our Pokémon to do so." Ash said._

"_If we have no choice, then I'm in. The week that we have to prepare ends tomorrow, anyway. The day after tomorrow is when we are scheduled to battle Verso. But I think we should leave tomorrow night. Verso will definitely be waiting for us at the Tree of Beginning." Paul said._

"_And if not, we wait for him." Leon agreed._

"_One more thing. How is everyone else going to know where we went? And if we don't come back, what happens when everyone goes to the Tree of Beginning to find nothing?" Paul asked._

"_We'll leave a note, and by the time they find it, we'll be long gone. As for when they actually get to the Tree of Beginning, we'll leave behind our fedoras. Then, Dad can activate the Time Flower there. It's a flower that shows you a vision of the past." Ash said._

_All right, then. We'll leave tomorrow night." Leon said. They all nodded in agreement._

_End flashback…_

The time was now. The night was here. Everyone was asleep except for Ash, Paul, and Leon. They gathered on the room's balcony. Next to the sleeping Raichu was a note. Without any hesitation, the three of them jumped off the balcony. Luckily, it was on the second floor of the castle. They raced with all speed to the distant Tree of Beginning. The three of them were as fast as ninjas. As they ran, they left no sign that they had been there.

_The next morning…_

When the group woke up due to a scream from Anabel, they quickly rushed to where it came from. They found her in Ash's room, her hands holding a sheet of paper and trembling. Raichu was at her side, crying. Next to Raichu were three belts with Poke Balls.

"Anabel, what's going on?" May asked. She was surprised to see Raichu cry. Whatever made them act like this must have been bad.

Liam walked over to her and took the sheet of paper, and after reading it himself, he let in a sharp intake of breath. Looking at the confused people at the door, he sighed before reading the note out loud.

_My friends,_

_The three of us are going to face Verso alone. We're sorry to do this to you, but the circumstances have gone too far. We left our Pokémon behind because if we die, they'll go along with us. Anabel, Sarah; Leon and I are leaving all our Pokémon with you. Please, take care of them. Paul wants his Pokémon to be sent back to Reggie, or if it's possible, he asks for Dawn to take care of them. Drew, Brock, Misty, May, Max, Mom, Dad…to you, we have nothing more to say except for goodbye. _

_To Anabel, Dawn, and Sarah, we send our love and our regret. We only wish that we could have spent more time with each other. But we can't. When you get to the Tree of Beginning, we might be dying on the floor, or we might be already gone. But I promise you one thing. Verso will be gone, no matter what. Our Aura Weapons have gone to a higher level. A sword to twin swords. An axe to a scythe. A spear to a lance. _

_Out of all the three of us, none of our lives had a fairytale beginning. All of us had something bad happen in our lives. But we want to at least give our lives, or at least your lives, a fairytale ending. It's the least we can do. If these are our last words to you, then that's fine. Goodbye, all of you. We're so sorry._

_Love, _

_Ash, Paul, and Leon_

Every single person went into shock, especially Anabel, Dawn, and Sarah.

_Meanwhile… _

"We've been waiting for you, Verso." Ash said.

Verso was surprised to see that the three young Aura Guardians were already at the Heart of the Tree of Beginning. He then sneered. "Good. You're alone. You don't even have your Pokémon. So the three of you think you can best me in a battle of Aura, do you? Well, you're sadly mistaken. Aura Mace!" His purple mace appeared in his hands. "I'll end your lives right here and now!"

"Aura Twin Swords!" Ash commanded. Two swords appeared, one in each hand. The swords were the same color as Ash's original sword, but their blades were a lot longer.

"Aura Scythe!" Paul commanded. Like Paul's Aura Axe, the Aura Scythe had a white blade and a black handle. It was even more powerful than his Aura Axe, and it was faster.

"Aura Lance!" Leon commanded. The green lance that appeared was a typical lance that knight's used to joust. However, it weighed nearly nothing, and it was far superior in power than Leon's Aura Spear.

Verso looked surprised. "So, your weapons have evolved. Only a few Aura Guardians have achieved this level of power. Liam and I are among them. I used to have an Aura Hammer, and he had Aura Knives. This might be more fun than I thought."

Leon pointed his lance at Verso. "Remember what I promised you when we first met? I said that after I was done with you, you'd be nothing more than a bad dream." He put his Aura Lance into a position to show that he was ready to stab it into a body. "I'm sticking to that resolution."

"Try me." Verso said. Leon rushed forward, and Verso began to swing his Aura Mace in preparation. Then he sensed something. Before he knew, Paul leapt over Leon and swung his Aura Scythe downwards. Verso could barely block it with his chain. He then swung the spiked ball at the end of his chain so that it whirled around and hit both Paul and Leon.

What he didn't expect was for Ash to attack him from the side. His young nephew ferociously slashed at his body. It was difficult for even Verso to predict his movements. They were too random. Before long, Ash had gashed Verso's body, and the Dark Aura Guardian was pushed back.

"I'll kill you." Ash said. Verso's eyes widened when he saw Paul's Aura Scythe at his neck and felt Leon's Aura Lance at his back. Then he saw Ash point an Aura Twin Sword at his chest. "Any last words?"

To his surprise, Verso began laughing. "So you've incapacitated me. Or so you think." Before the three young Aura Guardians could react, they were hit by a barrage of purple Aura Spheres from behind. The weapons were removed from his back, neck, and chest because they had all dissipated. The immense pain from being hit ruined their concentration. Verso then used the opportunity to smash his Aura Mace into all of them, rupturing several organs and breaking a few ribs.

Ash, Paul, and Leon were all flung back and landed on the ground next to each other. They coughed up blood. "What…was…that?" Paul rasped.

"That was a very powerful technique. By giving up a bit of my life energy, I can unleash a barrage of Aura Spheres from my weapon that I can control with my mind. I can see that you haven't reached this level yet. I'm not surprised. Only Liam and I have reached this level. The only difference between me and him is that I'm stronger." Verso dissipated his Aura Mace and walked towards the giant crystal. "The three of you performed admirably. I tip my hat to you. But it still wasn't enough."

What Verso didn't notice was that while he was talking, Mew had appeared when his back was turned. The three Aura Guardians nodded at each other, and looked at Mew.

"Mew…please take our Aura to defeat him and save your home and the world. Alone, we can't do it. But if you…combine your power with ours…you can do it." they whispered. Mew slowly nodded. The three Aura Guardians activated their Aura Weapons again and pointed them at Mew. With some effort, they stood up and began concentrating their Aura into Mew with their Aura Weapons acting as catalysts.

"Well? Don't you have a response?" Verso asked. All he heard were the grunts as the three Aura Guardians channeled their powers into Mew. However, he mistook them as grunts of pain. "Very well. If that's all you have to say, then so be it. My moment of triumph has arrived." He walked casually towards the crystal. Right when he was about to put his hands on it to begin the absorption, he suddenly felt three fading Auras and one growing Aura. He whipped around, and to his horror, he saw Ash, Paul, and Leon with their capes blowing from the surges of energy. Blue energy coursed through Ash's body. Black and white energy coursed through Paul's body. Green energy coursed through Leon's body. They were all grunting with the stress. Mew, on the other hand, was accepting the Aura, and it formed a bubble of Aura around it.

"No!" Verso yelled. He quickly reformed his Aura Mace and swung it at them. However, the Aura Mace was instantly repelled by the sheer energy. Verso then unleashed the barrage of Aura Spheres again, in exchange for some of his life energy, but they failed as well.

"Verso…!" Ash growled.

"Your life ends here!" Paul yelled.

"Prepare to die!" Leon grunted.

They channeled all their Aura and screamed as Mew flew forward and launched its ball of Aura at Verso. When it hit the Aura Mace, the mace didn't dissipate. It shattered. Verso didn't even have time to contemplate this as he was engulfed in an explosion as the ball made contact. When it cleared, Verso's body was in ashes.

But this victory didn't come without a price. "Damn it…why does the hero always have to sacrifice something?" Leon groaned as he sat down. Green energy surged through him, and he cried out in pain.

Black and white energy surged through Paul, and he fell to his knees. With difficulty, he and Ash sat down beside Leon. "It's the way…of the world…I guess…" he groaned.

Ash had just gone through a system shock as blue energy coursed through his body. He then glanced at the Time Flower some ways away. It was glowing. "Look at the bright side. The Time Flower over there has recorded this event." Ash screamed when the blue energy coursed through his body again. "All right." He threw his fedora at the Time Flower. Leon and Paul did the same. All of the hats landed next to the Time Flower.

"There…now they'll know for sure…Anabel…I love you…" Ash said.

"And we can finally…die…in peace… I'm sorry…Dawn…" Paul's voice began growing fainter.

"Good…bye…Sarah…my…heart…belongs…to…you." Leon whispered.

The three leaned back. Energy coursed through all their bodies as they screamed in pain. When it stopped their faces went from in pain to in peace as their bodies disappeared. The sad thing was, the group arrived in the chamber about five minutes later. When Liam activated the Time Flower and they saw what had happened to their friends, many of them simply broke down crying.

The three girlfriends of the fallen Aura Guardians then decided to honor their boyfriends' last wishes. The next day, ownership of the Aura Guardians' Pokémon was transferred to Anabel, Dawn, and Sarah.

_Some time later…_

"Where are we?" Ash asked. He, Paul, and Leon were in a meadow. It was beautiful. However, there didn't seem to be any inhabitants.

"You are in a world of eternal peace." a soothing voice said from behind. The three boys whipped around. To their shock, they saw a grand Pokémon towering towards them. One that they knew was only spoken of in legends. The Alpha Pokémon. Arceus.

"A-arceus…" Paul stammered.

"The three of you have been deemed worthy. Only those who have done a great deal for their world get to live in this place. Only a few people have come here. Among them are Sir Aaron and Damos." Arceus said.

"Damos…you mean that guy that helped you a few thousand years ago?" Ash asked.

"Yes. However, there is one matter I must discuss with you. Those who are deemed worthy enough to come here are also considered worthy enough to make a choice. They can choose to stay here forever, or they can choose to return to life. Sir Aaron and Damos both chose to remain here. But what is your decision?" Arceus asked.

The three boys considered this. As they did, Arceus began talking again. "Please note that if you choose the latter, you will have to wait six days so that you can heal your physical body. Also, a day in this world equals a month in your world. In other words, your friends will have to wait six months before they can see you again."

Leon sighed. "It doesn't matter. If I can have a chance to see Sarah again, then I'll wait as long as it takes. I'm returning to life."

Paul nodded. "We're only sixteen years old. We'll turn seventeen in our world soon. I don't want to die at that age before taking my relationship with Dawn further. I'll return to life as well."

"We have loved ones and Pokémon to return to. There's no way that we'll pass up this chance. I want to return to life. I want to return to Anabel." Ash said.

Arceus seemed to smile. "I had a feeling you would say that. Very well. In six days, I will return here, and you will go back to your world. I can also teleport you to wherever you wish, and you will go to that location."

"Thank you, Arceus." Ash said. Arceus nodded and disappeared.

Six days passed in this world, and the three Aura Guardians relaxed. After those six days, Arceus reappeared before them. It was time. The three Aura Guardians felt a white light surround them, and before they knew it, they found themselves in the backyard of the Ketchum residence, where, coincidentally, all their friends were there in a reunion of sorts. After all, it had been six months in their world.

Why were they celebrating on this winter day? The answer was simple.

It was Valentine's Day. The three boys' birthdays were all in January. And now, one month had passed, and in this world, they were all seventeen.

"Shall we?" Ash asked. Paul and Leon grinned. As a group, they walked around the side of the house and made their presence known. At first, no one could believe his or her eyes. But when Raichu jumped onto Ash's shoulder, seemingly out of nowhere, and nuzzled his trainer's face, the three Aura Guardians were met with cries of joy and hugs.

Anabel was the first to hug her boyfriend.

**It's not finished just yet. I'm going to include Anabel's side of the story as well as an epilogue in the next and final chapter. This story has to be finished. After all, I started back in December 2010. I think I've got to finish this thing now. The next chapter will be released in a few days, so look forward to it.**

**Please review! **


	19. Heroes Arc: A Joyous Future

**Disclaimer: I envy those people who own Pokémon. If I owned Pokémon, Ash and Anabel would have gotten together by now and Ash would actually act his age. Even though people say he's ten, I think he's actually twelve or thirteen at least. **

**Also, I don't own the beautiful song that will be featured in this chapter. Note: it will be a duet. The female lyrics will be in italics. The male lyrics will be in bold. **

Anabel and Espeon were standing in the same place that she was the day Ash had returned from Mt. Silver; on the balcony of the Battle Tower. This time though, one thing was different.

Ash's Raichu. Despite the fact that it allowed Anabel to be its new master, and it even took part in her battles against Battle Tower challengers, Anabel would always considerRaichu to be Ash's Pokémon, as well as all of her late boyfriend's other Pokémon. His main team was kept with her and Sarah at the Battle Tower. The rest were kept at Professor Oak's lab.

Six months had passed since Ash, Paul, and Leon had died, and taken Verso with them. A few things had changed among the group. Max had finally gotten strong enough to defeat Anabel and went on to defeat Brandon. Like Ash, though, he declined the offer to be made a Frontier Brain, saying that Ash wouldn't have done it. Considering how he practically idolized Ash, it wasn't surprising.

Dawn, May, and Drew kept their titles of Top Coordinators even after all this time. It seemed that the only ones who could best them in contests were each other and possibly Dawn's mother. Max became the Pokémon Champion in Hoenn, much to the delight of their little group. Brock and Misty finally felt like their siblings could handle the Pewter and Cerulean Gyms, and left in order to spend more time with each other.

There were some interesting developments in Dawn's case. Ever since Paul died, she had three boyfriends; Barry, Kenny, and Conway. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to be as good as Paul. Barry was too hyper, and crashed into people more than show any affection for her. Kenny was sweet, but he was _too_ sweet. When they were going out, he had repeatedly left lovey-dovey messages on her Poketch. It got annoying pretty soon and she broke it off. Conway was far too nerdy for her, always spouting some random fact out of nowhere, sometimes creating the most awkward moments.

She told Anabel that Paul was much calmer than Barry, not as lovesick as Kenny, but still sweet, and definitely not as nerdy as Conway, although Paul probably knew as much about Pokémon as Conway did. It was obvious to Anabel that even though Dawn and Paul hadn't been going out for that long, they were very close, and Dawn missed him with all her heart. The only things she had to remind her of him were his Pokémon and his Aura Guardian's fedora.

Sarah seemed to be taking it all in stride, but Anabel knew she was hurting about Leon as much as Anabel was about Ash. She had heard her friend crying at night to herself until about two months ago, when they had battled each other and let their feelings out. That Pokémon battle had helped both of them. It was easy to see why Ash and Leon loved it so much.

Still, at this current time, Anabel and Sarah only had Ash and Leon's Pokémon and Aura Guardian fedoras as mementos. The very thought brought tears to Anabel's eyes. She could still remember last month when they celebrated the three fallen Aura Guardians' birthdays. Liam had done the customary tradition. If an Aura Guardian ever died, then on their birthdays, a small bit of Aura of any kind had to be transferred to the fallen ones' graves/tombs. Liam and Delia had done the honors.

Today, though, was the opposite. Today was a day of love rather than grief. It was Valentine's Day, and the group was holding a celebration in honor of this day at the Ketchum residence. All the members and their families and friends were invited. Of course, sooner or later, tribute would be paid to the fallen heroes, but that wasn't the point. Anabel was looking forward to this celebration. It would give uplifting spirits to everyone.

"Anabel?" Sarah called. Anabel turned around to see Sarah at the door. By her side were her Lopunny and Leon's Infernape. Sarah's face softened. "You were thinking about him again, were you?"

"Yes." Anabel said.

"There's no use dwelling on the past. It's not what Ash wanted of you. It's not what Leon wanted of me. All they wanted was for us to be happy. I know that sounded a little cliché, but it was true. Leon did everything he could to make me happy." Sarah said.

"Ash, too." Anabel whispered. The two girls stood still with each other before regaining their senses.

"Anyway, we should be leaving now. I'll just bring Lopunny and Infernape. The others can wait here." Sarah said.

"In that case, I'll bring Raichu and Espeon." Anabel said, gesturing to the two Pokémon beside her.

"All right then, let's go." Sarah said. Although it was mid-afternoon, it was quite a ways to Pallet Town from the Battle Tower.

They slowly began their trek. Along the way, they met several hostile wild Pokémon, but the four Pokémon they had with them were easily much stronger, so those wild Pokémon weren't a real threat.

However, there was an encounter that may have turned ugly. They had just passed Viridian City when three familiar figures jumped out from behind a bush in front of them.

"Oh, how nice! You brought out your Pokémon! It just makes them easier to steal!" Jessie laughed.

"Ugghhh…" Sarah groaned, slapping her head. Team Rocket…again. After Verso's defeat, the trio went back to stealing Pokémon for Giovanni. Normally, their targets were the Pokémon that the group used. And as usual, they always failed sooner or later.

But now, something was different. Two other Team Rocket members were with Jessie, James, and Meowth. A orange haired girl and a green haired boy joined them.

"Oh, look, it's Cassidy and Douche." Sarah said.

"The name's not Douche! It's Butch! Butch! OK, now I know you're just trying to insult me because those two don't even rhyme!" Butch exploded. He then glared viciously at his snickering teammates. Apparently, the once antagonistic pairs of Team Rocket learned to work together.

"Yes, good to know. Now are you going to try to steal our Pokémon? Because I'm getting bored." Anabel said.

"We outnumber you! How can you two be so confident?" James asked.

"Because it only takes the four Pokémon that we have to defeat you." Sarah said, gesturing to Raichu, Espeon, Lopunny, and Infernape, who also had bored looks on their faces.

"Seviper!" Jessie called. A viper-like Pokémon with a spearhead-shaped tail appeared.

"Carnivine!" James called. A Venus Flytrap-like Pokémon appeared.

"Granbull!" Cassidy called. A purple bulldog-like Pokémon with huge bottom teeth appeared.

"Mightyena!" Butch called. A black wolf-like Pokémon appeared.

However, the girls' Pokémon were already attacking. Espeon struck down Seviper with Psychic. Lopunny defeated Carnivine with Ice Beam. Infernape took down Granbull with Close Combat. Raichu beat Mightyena with Iron Tail.

"Raichu, do the honors and use Thunderbolt!" Anabel said with a smile.

"Raaaichuuuu!" Raichu yelled its name as he zapped Team Rocket and made them blast off.

Again.

For the fifth time this week.

The thirtieth time this month.

The six hundredth time in the past year.

The two thousandth time in their entire Team Rocket careers.

But damn, it never got old!

"Why does this always happeeeeen?" they screamed as they flew off.

"That was boring…" Sarah said. Anabel nodded in agreement and they trekked on.

_Later…_

The two Frontier Brains were among the last ones to arrive. They quickly took their seats at a table, joining May and Dawn.

"Sarah, Anabel! Hey!" May greeted.

"How's it going?" Dawn asked.

"Not too bad." Anabel said as she watched Infernape and Raichu go over to Paul's Torterra, who was letting some of the smaller Pokémon play on its back.

"Wow. You brought Torterra?" Sarah asked.

"I brought Piplup, too." Dawn answered. Piplup was playing in the small pond that the Ketchums had in their backyard, despite the fact that it was one of the smallest Pokémon here. "I wanted to make it like a part of Paul was here. Torterra is just like him…"

"I feel the same with Infernape." Sarah said, watching Infernape get into a sparring match with Raichu…again.

They heard the sound of microphone feedback. Liam was standing in the front of the backyard. "Good evening, everyone! Tonight will be an average party. You know, with dancing, refreshments, and all that. The only special thing we'll have is the karaoke later, and I will personally select the singers!" Loud cheering was heard.

Everyone was having a good time. The food was delicious, thanks to the efforts of Delia, Johanna, Reggie, and Brock. Max also challenged Liam for a battle. Even though Max was a Pokémon Champion, he still wasn't as strong as Ash, Paul, or Leon had been, and the best thing to do was to challenge Ash's father. Of course, after a good battle, Max lost.

Liam then walked back to the front and turned on his microphone. "It's time, everyone! The first picks are…" He suddenly trailed off and gasped. His eyes widened in shock, and his mouth dropped open. He seemed to be focused on someone within the crowd. That someone was behind them.

The crowd simultaneously turned to see three boys who were believed to be dead. Ash. Paul. Leon. Or at least someone who looked like them.

"No way…" Brock said.

"Is it really them…?" Max asked.

Raichu cried out in joy and jumped into Ash's arms. The two longtime partners embraced each other. "I missed you, buddy." Ash said.

Infernape leapt out over the crowd and aimed a punch at Leon. Leon quickly blocked it. Infernape them grinned and threw its arms around him. Leon then patted its back. "Have you been good, my friend?" Leon asked.

Paul walked towards Torterra and bent down to eye level. "It's great to see you, Torterra." He slowly patted its head.

"Ash! Paul! Leon!" Misty screamed.

"You're alive!" Sarah cried, running into Leon's arms.

"Yeah, I am." Leon answered. "I missed you." Sarah then pulled away and slapped him. "Ow! What was that for?"

"You idiot! Why'd you have to do that?" Sarah scolded.

"I did it for you!" Leon argued.

"I don't care! I lost you once! I don't want to lose you again, do you understand me?" Sarah then kissed Leon with all her might. They remained in that position for a while before she pulled away. "Never again." she whispered. Leon nodded.

Meanwhile, Paul slowly walked up to the shy-looking Dawn. He turned her face to him gently. Her eyes were filled with tears. Paul shook his head. "This will not do. I can't have my girlfriend cry." he said. "I'm sorry, Dawn. I know that you probably won't forgive me but…"

He was cut off when Dawn put a finger to his lips. "I'm not crying because of your death. I'm crying in happiness." She began to sob a bit, put her hands onto Paul's chest, and buried her face into Paul's chest. "I missed you. I've already forgiven you." Her sentence was muffled. Paul sighed and just held her like that.

However, the most touching reunion was that of Ash and Anabel's. They simply gazed at each other from across the yard, both of them looking longingly at each other. Then, slowly, Ash began to stride towards her. Anabel did the same. They got faster and faster until Ash reached her, lifted her up by the waist and spun her around. She began laughing, and her eyes began tearing up. He set her down and she kissed him once on each cheek and then full on the mouth.

"Awww…" everyone said.

"Well, with that touching reunion, I'll think we should have Ash and Anabel sing the first song!" Liam laughed. Everyone cheered in agreement. Ash smiled and intertwined their fingers. He led her to the front where Liam and Delia were waiting with a karaoke machine. Delia looked insanely happy, while Liam looked very proud of his son. Then, Liam gave Ash his mike, while Delia gave Anabel hers.

As they walked up to the area where the attention was drawn, they briefly noticed that the song they were singing was _Stereo Love. _Anabel began the song.

_When you gonna stop breaking my heart?_

_I don't wanna be another one_

_Paying for the things I never done_

_Don't let go, don't let go, to my love_

_Can I get to your soul?_

_Can you get to my thoughts?_

_Can you promise we won't let go?_

_All the things that I need_

_All the things that you need_

_You can make it feel so real_

'_Cause you can't deny_

_You've blown my mind_

**When I touch your body**

**I feel I'm losing control**

'_Cause you can't deny_

_You've blown my mind_

**When I see you baby**

**I just don't wanna let go**

_When you gonna stop breaking my heart?_

_I don't wanna be another one_

_Paying for the things I never done_

_Don't let go, don't let go, to my love_

**I hate to see you cry**

**Your smile is a beautiful lie**

**I hate to see you cry**

**My love is dying inside**

**I hate to see you cry**

**My love is dying inside**

**I hate to see you cry**

**My love is dying inside**

**I can fix all those lies**

**Oh, baby, baby, I run, but I'm running to you**

**You won't see me cry, I'm hiding inside**

**My heart is in pain but I'm smiling for you**

**Oh baby I'll try, to make the things right**

**I need you more than air when I'm not with you**

**Please don't ask me why, just kiss me this time**

**My only dream…is about you and I**

_Can I get to your soul?_

_Can you get to my thoughts?_

_Can you promise we won't let go?_

_All the things that I need_

_All the things that you need_

_You can make it feel so real_

'_Cause you can't deny_

_You've blown my mind_

**When I touch your body**

**I feel I'm losing control**

'_Cause you can't deny_

_You've blown my mind_

**When I see you baby**

**I just don't wanna let go**

_When you gonna stop breaking my heart?_

_I don't wanna be another one_

_Paying for the things I never done_

_Don't let go, don't let go, to my love_

**I hate to see you cry **

**My love is dying inside**

**I hate to see you cry**

**Your smile is a beautiful lie**

**I can fix all those lies**

**Oh, baby, baby, I run, but I'm running to you**

**You won't see me cry, I'm hiding inside**

**My heart is in pain but I'm smiling for you**

**Oh baby I'll try, to make the things right**

**I need you more than air when I'm not with you**

**Please don't ask me why, just kiss me this time**

**My only dream…is about you and I**

The cheering when Ash and Anabel were done was surprisingly huge for the size of the crowd. Who could blame them? They were amazing. They could both great singers, even though it was Ash's first time singing publicly.

"Give them a hand, everyone! Aren't they amazing?" Liam laughed. He calmly waited for the applause to end before continuing. "Now, the next ones are…"

And so the party went on. Song after song, dance after dance. Eventually, everyone began to leave due to weariness and time. Ash and Leon followed Anabel and Sarah to the Battle Tower, where Scott quickly gave his permission for them to become Frontier Brains. It was obvious that they wanted to stay with each other. Paul, on the other hand, decided to claim the title of Pokémon Champion in Sinnoh, defeating Cynthia.

After a few months of initiative Frontier Brain training, Ash and Leon got their battle facility. They were known to be even stronger than Brandon. Their facility was called the Battle Terrain. It tested a trainer's adaptability. The Battle Terrain's field was designed to constantly change into random environments, going from a desert into a forest into a glacier in matter of minutes. It even had the temperature settings necessary. Ash and Leon were known as the Terrain Masters. Challengers could choose to battle one of them or both of them. If the challenger managed to beat one of them, they would get the Silver Adaptability Symbol. If the challenger managed to beat both, then they would get the Gold Adaptability Symbol.

Ash and Anabel got married when they were twenty-one. Leon and Sarah followed a few months later. In fact, all the pairings within the group were married. It was definitely the best life any of them could wish to have. And it was fated to get a lot better for Ash and Anabel.

_A few years later…_

One night, many years after the battle with Verso, Ash returned to the small house he and Anabel shared in Tohjo Falls. Anabel was waiting for him. "Um, Ash?"

"Hey, Anabel." He hung up his coat and kissed his wife's cheek.

"I need to tell you something."

This got Ash's attention. "What's up?"

"I'm pregnant." Anabel said bluntly.

Ash froze for a few seconds before speaking. "Seriously?" Anabel nodded, worried at his reaction.

Ash surprised Anabel by picking her up by the waist,, and kissed her. "That's amazing! I can't believe I'm a father!"

Anabel didn't expect this. "Aren't you worried at all?"

Ash grew serious and set her down. "I am, a little. The way I see it is that we've just got to do our best with the baby. Scott might be pissed, too. But I don't plan on leaving you or aborting the baby. We're going to keep it. And we're going to raise it as best as we can. Besides, Leon and Sarah are here, and so are our Pokémon.

Anabel laughed. "About that. It looks like Raichu finally got the guts to consummate his love for Espeon. I sensed another presence inside of her."

Ash put their foreheads together. "Even better." he whispered. The two crashed their lips into each other. Anabel wrapped her legs around Ash's waist, and the guardian carried his lover up to their bedroom. They pulled away when they stepped inside and Ash kicked the door shut.

Throughout the night, the natural forest sounds were accompanied by the passionate sounds of a young couple making love.

**I have finally finished this. I really must thank Edward Maya and Vika Jigulina for **_**Stereo Love.**_ **I freaking love that song! **

**Thanks to all my loyal readers out there who have motivated me to write this story for the past seven months. Now, please review.**


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